The Corollary Theory
by bfm10
Summary: Everything has its corollaries. Everything evolves. So does our famous "gang". This story follows the gang from 2029 on, as it grows and evolves through life's challenges. Canon couples, Raj/OC. Multiple OCs. AU to season 12. Includes everyone, to different extents. Sequel to "The Corollary Theory: The Celebration Aberration" but can be read without having read it.
1. Different

_**A/N: I said "around July", so June 23rd it is :) Here we go again!**_

 _ **As said in the summary this could be read without reading "Celebration Aberration", which is like an exposition to this story. It is possible to figure things out, although I recommend reading at least chapters 1-4, 8 and 10 of Celebration.**_

 _ **For those who hadn't read Celebration, here's a little explanation (sorry, a 'splanation): This story follows the gang throug the years from 2029 on. It is written from characters' POVs, so there will be differences in language and details mentioned/ommited according to what fits the character. Though it's written the language is mostly spoken language (meaning some "mistakes" are intentional). Tenses are chosen as if the story is told at the end of the day. As his takes place in the future there are technological differences from present time but characters won't always go into detail about them as they may be usual for them.**_

 _ **And two reminders to all: 1) As this is written from characters' POVs there is not "voice of truth", the character's thoughts and actions are not supposed to represent "right"/"wrong". 2) Stephen here has ASD but one should not infer from him to people with ASD. It is a very heterogenous condition ("If you've met one person with autism you've met one person with autism") and people who have it also have various other characteristics making them their own unique people.**_

 _ **I will try to update this every 2-3 weeks as my time for fiction writing as limited, in part due to my RL academic writing. As with Celebration focus will shift although it won't be evenely spread. While there will be arcs many chapters are stand-alone-ish, meaning you could skip or skim through some.**_

 _ **Special thanks to my dear beta reader joyteach and to all Celebration readers.**_

 _ **High time to wrap up this A/N!**_

 _ **I still do not own not even a tinie-tiny bit of The Big Bang Theory, that belongs to Lorre and Prady. I only have my dear 7 OCs and to some extent (this story's) Halley and Michael. As I said I may be open to lending characters, PM me.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Different**

 _September, 2029._

 _[Riley.]_

I was glad the house was quiet. No one was home, as I expected. Mom was at an event Caltech held to promote its new Arctic Biochemistry MSc program. She works in the university's promotion team. Daddy usually gets home later. Sophie went to her best friend Mia's and Maxi was at the Cooper-Fowlers'.

No one was home, so no one would see me. No one would see my eyes or my nose, which were still a little red and puffy. No one would see me pursing my lips tightly, trying to hold everything in. The bus-line supervisor hadn't noticed, neither had the kids on the bus. But my parents would. Mom would notice without even looking at me, it's like she has a sixth sense for that. She says it's her Mommy sense and that it never fails. Denying I've been crying never works on her.

My parents would notice and would worry about me. They would leave everything to comfort and help me. I didn't want that, I should handle this on my own. Sophie would come too and if she found out what it was about it would make her even more wary with other kids. I'm her big sister, I'm supposed to protect her not make her scared. Maxi would probably just make adorable suggestions and try to cheer me up, but he's only three, he should focus on little kids' stuff, like building with blocks.

I was glad no one was home, as I thought I would have enough time to settle before they got back.

I climbed the stairs and went to my room, leaving my backpack in its place. My closet has the 3.0 Fetch-tech, the one that has a contents list and brings you anything without having to navigate by joystick and camera, so I set it to bring me what I wanted: my pink TV blanket.

This blanket used to be Mommy's, but she gave it to me when I was five. It was the day I found out my friend Vale was leaving the country to move to Spain, where her mom used to live. I was very sad and felt like doing nothing. Mommy then brought her favorite TV blanket and told me it helped her feel better. I didn't understand how, it was only a blanket, but she wrapped me in it and it did feel better. However, in that and other cases, there was also the factor of her taking me onto her lap and hugging and kissing and caressing me, that would be an artifact - something that contributed to the difference made and thus makes it hard to attribute the difference to the independent variable, i.e., the blanket. Still, I thought I should give it a try.

I took off my shoes, sat on my bed and wrapped myself in the blanket. I thought this one wouldn't be such a good experiment to test the blanket effect either, because I imagined Mommy hugging and kissing and caressing me. I wish I could stick to this imagery, but it was soon replaced by voices and images from earlier.

Last week, when the principal said that the fifth grade was going to be in charge of the autumn school fair, I thought it was awesome. I was excited about all these cool activities we could prepare and had been waiting eagerly to start planning them.

Today, when Ms. Weismann, my teacher, said that we were going to start the planning during our last class, I had all these ideas running in my mind. Mom says my mind is sometimes like racing trains with mega strong engines (only she doesn't say that anymore when Uncle Sheldon is around because he would start questioning her on the kinds of trains and kinds of engines these were).

I talked to Michael about it and he offered some tips from when his grade organized the autumn fair last year, although it was hard for him to check on the end result because once at the fair his dad kept him busy trying to show him "neat ways to win stuffed animals and girls' hearts" (which was hilarious, because Uncle Howard's most "neat" throw was when the ball went backwards and hit the principal, who put Uncle Howard in the fair's pretend jail and let Aunt Bernie decide on his sentence).

At lunch I talked to my friends Randi, Thomas, Irene and Hiroshi and we thought of some ideas. We did try not to discuss comic-book related ideas thoroughly, since we knew the others would probably not like them as much, but that was too hard. How can one stop talking about Spider-Man wall climbing?!

When I entered the school's sports hall, where the planning was going to take place, I was _pumped._ Ms. Weismann and the other class' teacher Mr. Jameel explained to us what kinds of activities we could prepare, how many, what kinds and how many prizes we could have and what to think of when we made plans. We then discussed and wrote ideas in groups, but just when the teachers stopped us and were about to start asking for suggestions, a fight started. It was a violent fight among four boys, Josh C. and Nathaniel from my class and Trent and Greg S. from the other. It was quite scary, like the time my Aunt Candice's ex-husband fought with her then boyfriend when we went to the tractor exposition in Nebraska. The teachers ran to stop the fighting boys but Nat and Trent were still very mad and were trying to keep fighting. Mr. Jameel then asked us to discuss our ideas by ourselves and put Pamela in charge of typing the ideas on the board. The teachers then left the hall with the four boys.

Miles from the other class was the first one to suggest an idea as a representative of his group. They suggested having a color shooting stall, where people would throw balloons full of dye at volunteers. Everybody thought it would be funny, but then when Pamela got to the cleaning team line no one wanted to volunteer, as we all realized it would make a big mess.

I then got an idea, "We could make it a booth! We would surround the area with big white cardboards so all the color would go on the cardboards. Then maybe we could keep it as a reminder of the fair." My parents once did something similar, they made a painting by playing paintball with a canvas behind them. They then gave it to Uncle Sheldon, telling him it was made by William Shatner. I don't know why they didn't keep it, but they think Uncle Sheldon having it is funny.

I noticed many kids staring at me or exchanging looks between them, but I didn't have any idea why. Pam wrote down my suggestion, but she appeared to be doing it reluctantly, after getting a nod from Miles after he consulted with his group.

There were five other groups making suggestions before ours, each presenting one or two ideas. Some had more but they were similar to prior suggestions. There were four times when there was a problem with an idea that needed solving. I came up with possible solutions three of those times, and each time I did I noticed these stares and looks and also some whispering. Things got even more puzzling when Karen made an offer and got none of that. Instead, she got cheering and applause. And as I cheered for her great idea I got stares again.

Then it was our turn. I was hesitant to represent our group, the other kids' behavior toward me made me uncomfortable, but my friends wanted me to do it, saying I was the only one who could explain all of the details of the workings of our ideas. So I stood up and started presenting our ideas. I couldn't help but notice the silence in the hall when I did. I tried telling myself that I was exaggerating but I knew every other group got at least some cheers when presenting. Something was really off, but I didn't have any idea what it was.

Then, when I started with our fourth idea, Miles groaned, "Why don't you just make it The Riley Fair and we all go home?"

I heard multiple "Yeah"s and chuckles.

"What?" I asked, feeling confused and under attack.

"Why don't you ask yourself what, given that you're such a genius and know better than all of us!" Miles retorted.

Again, most kids seemed to agree. Why would they say that? "Being a genius doesn't mean you know it all or know better than everyone, it- it just represents some-" I tried to explain, my voice shaking.

"Oh shut up!" Melanie cut me off, with many supporting and repeating that.

"I'm just saying IQ is not all and-"

"So poor stupid us have other good qualities which we could comfort ourselves with? What, good hearts? Good sense of humor? Are we funny little monkeys?" Oliver asked, standing up and looking right at me with anger and bitterness in his voice and his eyes.

I wanted to shout that it wasn't true at all but I felt like I was choking and everything happened so fast.

"Yeah why don't you go have a fair in the middle school with the seventh or eighth or ninth graders, whatever grade whose books her highness is learning in her special reserved place at the back of the class?!" McKenzie got up and shouted.

I wanted to tell her that I only sit in the back because the teachers think it would be less distracting, I really have no problem sitting wherever I'm told, I would sit on the floor if that would make the others feel better!

"Yeah! Get out!" Oliver shouted.

Then, a chorus of endless "Out! Out! Out! Out!" started.

I looked around and saw a hall full of kids who hated me, some pointing at the door and some watching, and my friends being concerned and afraid.

So with my eyes filling with tears I ran as fast as I could. I didn't know where I was going, I just knew I had to get out of there. So I ran and ran and ran until I found myself in the Anthropology section of the library. It is one of the places Michael and I meet at school, because it's a place nobody visits. Michael says his classmates would tease him if they saw him hanging out with someone from a lower grade. I just sat there at the corner and cried until school was over, thinking about everything that had happened.

'Know better than us', 'Little monkeys', 'Her highness', 'Out!', all of these now sounded in my mind repeatedly, with images of angry kids pointing at the door. I wanted to settle down before anybody got home but I couldn't help but burst out crying all over again.

I have had kids keep their distance from me. I have had kids stare at me or glance at me and then whisper to one another. I have had kids tell me to go back to my books and leave them alone. I have had kids call me 'Smartass', 'Know-it-all' or 'Nerd'. (And I have Halley, but that's a whole other thing.) But I've never had kids expel me and never had kids (other than Halley) say I think I'm better than them and think of them as inferior! Was I really that bad? Did I hurt them? How did this happen? I swear I do not think that way! I know that there are other skills equally or more important than those assessed by intelligence tests, Daddy said so!

"Cub?" I suddenly heard Daddy's voice. He must have gotten back early. He has been early a few times the last couple of weeks, now that he's started with the preparations for the vice president of Caltech job he will be starting in a few months (I knew he would get it!).

I stopped my sobbing and covered my face with the blanket.

"Cub, what happened?!" I could hear shock and worry in his voice as he entered my room.

I felt my bed sink a little beside me and Daddy's right hand settling gently on my back while his left one took the blanket off my head.

"Nothing, I'm fine," I said as I quickly turned my head the other way.

"Don't give me that, I have years of experience with both you and your mom, I'm not buying that."

I sighed and slowly turned my head back, to look at him. His face was full of concern, just like I thought, and this concern seemed to grow bigger when he saw my face.

"Cub…" he said softly, and wiped some of my tears with his thumb.

Then, as I felt new tears coming up and my lips trembling, he hugged me tight from my side, caressing my hair with his right hand. We stayed this way, with me sobbing again, for what felt like a really long time, until I managed to speak, kind of.

"The- they said I think I'm better than them.." I said in a shaky voice and took a breath to continue, "I don't, Daddy, I really don't!"

"Oh baby I know you don't" he said as he squeezed me for a little. He sighed after about a minute, "It is hard, being different is really _really_ hard."

He didn't have to say more, as we'd already had this conversation various times, the first one being when I was four. I remember it as if it were yesterday. I was crying in Daddy's car (most people had cars those days) all the way from preschool because some kids said I wasn't allowed to help them with their block castle because I 'blabber sciency blabs all the time' and was a 'Weirdo from Weirdwood town'. They repeated that all day long, laughing at me.

When we got home that day Daddy sat me on his lap and said, "You know Cub, there's a funny thing about people."

"What's that?" I asked, looking up at him and rubbing my eyes.

"Every one of us is different. There are no two people who are exactly the same, even identical twins! They have different names and different experiences." I nodded. "But, it is sometimes hard for people to deal with someone who is different, especially when they're very different, like when they have extraordinary cognitive skills, like skills to learn much faster and better and think about things others have trouble figuring out. People are usually more comfortable with those who are more similar to them and they may feel unease with those who are more different. They may think wrong things about those who are more different and not check if that's true, and even be mean to them. That is not okay, and it is not because there is anything wrong about the more different, but because of some tendencies people have. Not all of people's tendencies are good for every situation, like Daddy's tendency for saving energy gets him in trouble when Mommy wants him to work out." We laughed. "In the case of having trouble with difference, the problem is not only that people always meet different people because everybody is different, but also that difference is important. Similarity is important because it brings us comfort, understanding, and a sense of belonging. But difference helps us grow and evolve, it opens our eyes to new things we would have never seen without it. Do you know many people believe that the universe was created due to different particles meeting each other?" I didn't know it then, but he was referring to the Big Bang theory.

What he said next he repeated at those various other times, with slightly different phrasing, "Cub, you are an extraordinary little girl. You are truly amazing, Mommy and I want you to always know that. But that means you are also very different from most people, and that will be a challenge for you. Being different is hard, it really is. You will find your place, I know that. You will find that constellation of people and places that will give you this blend of similar and different that will be right for you. You will find the people who will accept you as you are, you will also be part of their blend. Until then you will encounter challenges, but know that we will always be there to support and help you through them."

From that day on I knew it, I mean I've already known it, but that day I _knew_ it. I knew that Daddy will _always be there for me._ I may be very different from most people, but I'm not a weirdo, I am like Daddy. Daddy understands.

I may not yet have this right blend of similar and different, but I do have similar. That's gotta count for something. I have my family and I have the gang, my family of heart, so I think I'm good to go find my place. They will probably need me to find theirs too, at least the kids, so maybe we could find it together.

After Mom came home and settled down she and Daddy called my school's principal, Ms. Perzzi. She was shocked to hear what had happened and wanted to berate all the kids in my grade. Mommy was very mad and wanted them to be punished and for their parents to be called to school. But I didn't want that, I was afraid they would hate me even more. So it was decided that there would be a lecture at school on social violence and how it hurts victims.

Baby Bro's suggestion for my school problem, by the way, was that I get the other kids to let me help with the fair by letting them use the golden duck-tape, since other kids 'seem to be fascinated by that'.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Yes, there were "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" and "Friends" nods there ;)**_


	2. How to win?

_**A/N: Time for a new chapter :)**_

 _ **So I didn't mention this last time because the A/N was long enough as it was, but the chapters (or at least the great majority of them) do not continue from the exact time the previous chapter ended. The differences could be of days, weeks, months, a year or more... Some things that happened in one chapter, though, may be mentioned and continued through recollection in a later chapter (not necessarily the next one). This and other style-related things also make most chapers stand-alone-ish, meaning there are arcs but you could skip or skim through some chapters and read later ones.**_

 _ **Huge thanks to everyone who had reviewed, followed, favorited and read so far. I love reviews, if you have something on your mind - let me know. Special thanks to my dear beta joyteach.**_

 ** _Note: This chapter (like the previous one) mentions transport lines. For those who didn't read Celebration or don't remember what the lines are - they're autonomous vehicles. There are on-call lines and lines that have set schedules and stations. There are no more private cars in California (in the story). Thank you Rick for making me realize I should mention this._**

 _ **I still don't own The Big Bang Theory and anything that was created for it. I could really use the money... All I own are my 7 OCs and to some extent (this story's) Halley and Michael. They don't make me any money, but I love them dearly (but not in a creepy way).**_

* * *

 **Chapter 2: How to win?**

 _November 2029._

 _[Bernadette.]_

Who does she think she is?! What made her think she could say that?! She should call and order some more silicon and have it shoved in her mouth!

It's been days and I still couldn't get that stupid plastic bitch out of my mind. Cassandra Samuels. What a stuck up. It's a shame they don't have a page for parents in the kids' yearbook, she should get the title of 'Most likely to melt during her next hair bleaching'. God, I hope our kids go to different classes next year. Six years of them being in the same class are more than enough. My son Michael is fine with her son, Darryl, but they're not the best of friends. Besides, Mikey would probably be fine with losing any friend as long as he's got Riley, his BFF. She's our close friends' daughter, so not much of a risk there.

Although, that event a few days ago was for the whole grade, so different classes wouldn't have mattered. It was a talk about the transition to middle school for all of the parents of the sixth graders. My husband, Howard, went to a similar one two years ago for our daughter, Halley, but he didn't pay much attention. He doesn't think it's a big deal, he thinks we should just 'let the kids be'. That's practically his philosophy for everything that involves making the kids do things they don't want to or anything that takes (what to him is) too much effort on his part. So this time we both went.

"Mrs. Wolowitz, is that you?" the two-faced snob asked as she saw me, a surprised look on her face (causing me surprise that she's still able to make that expression).

"It's Doctor Rostenkowski Wolowitz, _Ms._ Samuels," I corrected, fake-smiling.

"Oh I'm sorry, I guess my astonishment made me forget, I just wasn't expecting you at an event related to your child. You know, it's usually your husband and your little plate of store-bought cookies that is always present while you're busy at work."

Howie jumped between us immediately, sensing my desire to rip that bitch's hair off. "Easy Bernie, easy… Remember we're at a school event…" He looked me in the eyes.

I took a breath, "Seems like you really care about me," I said cordially, "and like my _home baked_ cookies."

"I care about the children and the parents of the class, all working parents, who invest their time and money in whatever is necessary for class activities while you make the least effort possible. I also care about poor Mikey, such a sweet boy with a mother who can't balance work and family and chooses herself over him," she said venomously.

That was it. I didn't care about the other parents, boo-hoo, nobody told you to make a six-story cupcake tower for a talk at school. But saying that _I hurt my son?!_ Saying _I choose myself over him?!_ WHO DOES SHE THINK SHE IS?!

Yes, it's mostly Howie who goes to all this school stuff. Yes, he does the carpools. Yes, he's the one who volunteered to chaperone for the trip last year, when everybody realized we had never done that (he did eventually manage to get our friend Sheldon to replace him, after telling Sheldon there were train rides involved, but it's still us who got a chaperone so that counts). Howie was also the one to pick up the kids from daycare and preschool. But that's what we agreed on. Howie does that, and music and magic teaching, and flirting guidance for Mikey (I mostly gave up on trying to stop that, I know if I insisted, Howie would just do it when I wasn't around). I do the laundry, cooking, cleaning, bills, taxes and most of the disciplining of the kids (who am I kidding? all of the disciplining).

But I know there are those who think that if I don't clock in I'm not doing my job as a mother properly. I just have to do a lot of clocking in at work. I work late a lot. Sometimes because I'm requested to, sometimes because I have so much to do and I don't notice the time. Other times I manage to get home but have to take work calls. Does that mean I don't want to be with my family? Does that mean I don't want to just have fun time with my kids? To help them with school projects? To chaperone? Okay I don't want to chaperone, but I do want all the rest. But being a woman, and a small one with a squeaky voice at that, isn't easy at a pharmaceuticals company. There's plenty of competition inside and outside of the company.

My father taught me to be tough and not to give up on anything. Fight like a tiger, if you want to make it. All my life I had to fight to succeed. And I did. I have a prestigious job that I love and I make a butt load of money (why doesn't that count for Mom points?!). If I cut down on my hours or rejected a project, that would be giving up, that would be not fighting.

And it would again put me under scrutiny of the higher ups. I was under their scrutiny for seven years, only coming out of it, partially, about five years ago. It started when I first got pregnant, with Halley. My then boss did not dare say anything or look at me with any hint of disapproval. He was afraid of me. But I know the higher ups did not like it. Then I got pregnant again, in less than a year. I love Mikey with all my heart but we didn't plan for it, and on top of that I had to stop working early on, as I was ordered bed rest. When I got back I felt as if every little thing I did was being thoroughly inspected. The times I had to take off due to the kids' various illnesses when they were young did not help. We agreed that Howie would take time off when the kids would be sick, but most of the times he caught whatever they had a day later. I would then have to take time off to care for two or three sick children. Zanagen did offer free drugs, but I work for them, I would not give my children and husband their drugs!

So when that pretentious plastic bitch said what she said, I couldn't hold it in. I started yelling all that was on my mind. I don't even remember exactly what happened, it's like one big blur of rage. Howie said I looked like I was about to shoot fire out of my eyes.

I only stopped when the principal sent the three of us out of the hall. She then said she was sorry, but she would have to ban both Cassandra and me from any school events for the next month. That included the next basketball game, which was today.

The basketball game. That was a like a punch in the guts. I miss many of Mikey's activities, as per my arrangement with Howard, but I always do my best to get to his games.

Last year I missed his semi-finals game at the regional elementary league, getting there five minutes after it ended. After working many hours straight with no breaks to be able to get out of work at the time the game started, I got stuck in traffic. Realizing I wasn't going to get anywhere I got off the transport line almost two miles away and started running like crazy. I'm pretty sure I worked out more than some of the players in the game. When I got there and saw people leaving, I was crossing my fingers that these were people who couldn't stay for overtime. But then I saw Riley, and that sad look in those big green eyes of hers told me everything. Mikey and Howie were a few steps behind her. Always the helper, she told Mikey I got there just in time to comfort him for losing. But I knew that smile he had put on was mainly for her sake.

Missing another game would definitely be a strong punch in the gut, but I knew arguing with Ms. Perzzi wouldn't help.

The morning after the Cassandra fiasco I got a text from my friend Penny, Riley's mom. 'I heard you got into a fight with Cassie Samuels', I read and sighed. Howie can't keep anything to himself. 'Are you okay? I can talk to her if you want.

Penny's younger daughter, Sophie, is in the same class as Cassandra's younger son. They weren't friends, but Penny did get on well enough with her. That wasn't a big surprise, Penny has good people skills. And Cassandra probably _loves_ her because she's there for whatever there is that involves her kids, unless she's not allowed to. She definitely _cannot_ cook or bake. The only way she's better than Howard at this is her being able to produce the shape of foods (taste and texture are another story). It is her husband Leonard who is in charge of that, and sometimes the girls (with Penny 'supervising'). But Penny willalways volunteer to take part in school activities and will be chaperone in each and every little trip.

But that's Penny, I mean, I love the woman, but she's mom-crazed. It's funny, when we met she was a total commitment-phobe. She broke up with Leonard because of that and was a total mess. She was still mostly playing it cool and nonchalant after they got back together and got married, but when she first got pregnant it all shattered. We thought all that gushing about pregnancy and her family would be over after she gave birth, but boy were we wrong. She's still cool and fun but motherhood acts on her like a powerful drug. With the amount of pictures and videos she has of her kids, one might think she was spying on them. She's got a full flash drive with just pictures of them sleeping, I swear! She would show it to you proudly if you'd only ask. She also calls Riley whenever she's at our place, saying she's missing her. And you know how sometimes kids have difficulties separating from their parents when going to preschool or first grade? Well, apparently parents can have them too. On Sophie's first day at school they had to call Leonard to pick _Penny_ up.

If I were like Penny I would not be able to keep my job. No way. Penny works in the promotion team of Caltech (same place Howie works at as an engineer). There's plenty she can do at home, and her higher ups are very lenient with her because she's better than most of their employees. They've told her many times they would promote her if she worked more hours and took more work upon herself, but she's refused them every time. Now she's about to leave because her husband is becoming vice president there, even though they're not making her do so. I can't imagine myself doing things like that. I love my job, and keeping stagnant or taking a step back is just like quitting. I am not a quitter. I am a fighter.

But fighters also need someone to vent to. Penny was obviously not a good choice in that matter. Another close friend of mine, Amy, wouldn't be either. Amy is a respected neurobiologist, but she's got a child with autistic spectrum disorder and a Sheldon (the latter arguably more demanding). Her struggles are different from mine. Also, people who know that would never criticize her motherhood. It's a good thing I have Anaya. Sure, she only has one child, but she's a career woman, running her own Indian heritage center, and she believes in hard work. So the day after the incident I found myself stopping by the Koothrappali home.

"Ugh Plastic Bitch!" Anaya shared my frustration, after I finished sharing my story with her. We were sitting in their rather small, yet highly accessorized kitchen. Digital stove, bread-maker, ice-cream machine mixed with wooden chairs, table and counters and a big fabric poster of some Hindu goddess. That's Anaya and Raj for you.

"I know!" I retorted.

There was a moment of silence, both of us taking sips from our chai.

"So…this Samuels woman has a son in Michael's class and another in Sophie's…Is there another one, maybe younger than that?" she asked, "innocently", taking another sip.

"Calm down, she won't be a problem for you," I said, rolling my eyes at her.

"Hey, I'm just trying to paint a picture of the family!" she raised her hands defensively.

I sighed, "What am I gonna do? I can't miss another one of Mikey's games!"

"Well, you know what I say when a superior goal is involved - Work for it. Do whatever you can to make sure you get there. You know, Hindus believe our children are gifts from God. Caring for them is our way of thanking the deity."

"Then why did you only have one gift?" I asked suspiciously. I actually know the answer, I just wanted to push the Hindu goody-two-shoes into a corner. Raj, her husband, who had been Howard's best friend years before he met her, had told us the reason. Anaya was one of four children living in a poor family. She didn't want to have to split earnings and prioritize among her own children, and also wanted to be able to invest time and money in her center. Raj was fine with it, seeing it as an opportunity to spoil his only child as much as he could. That is, as much as he could without his wife knowing.

"Be..cause you should treat a gift from God the best you can. You know, take care of it like an expensive festive sari you wash by hand and iron gently, not your husband's many sweaters you just throw in the washing machine hoping some of them get torn by mistake…"

I chuckled lightly, both at her ability to bend her faith's principles to fit her own good (which she shared with her husband) and her grievance with the many ugly sweaters he would wear in layers, here in California, all year long.

"So what do I do?" I asked.

Anaya was about to speak, when her six-year-old, Dakota, entered the kitchen, where we were.

"Mummy! Mummy!" she called, seeming upset, "The purple marker with the glitter is not working!"

"Then use another color, Sugar," Anaya answered.

"I can't do that, I already started painting the princess' dress glittery purple!"

"So now it would have two colors, the more the merrier!" Anaya smiled, trying to sell it.

"But then it wouldn't match the prince's tie, it is purple, not purple and another color!"

"Wait a minute, don't you have another purple marker?"

"Yes, but it's purple."

Anaya looked at her daughter questioningly.

"It's not _glittery_ purple!"

Anaya sighed. "You know what, Sugar? I bet Daddy has a great idea for solving your dress crisis!" she finally said. Raj did solve my dress crisis once with his emergency sewing kit he always carries around (I've learned not to ask questions).

I smirked at Anaya, the moment Kotie ran out the door.

"She's his gift too" she defended again. She and Raj are a good match indeed.

Anaya may not always follow her own convictions, but she did have a point. So after our conversation I set my mind to working to convince Ms. Perzzi to let me in for the game.

I like Ms. Perzzi. She's considerate, non-judgmental, and she lets me punish Howie whenever he screws up at school events (which happens more than you'd think). She's usually understanding toward me, and she never implied Howie and I were lesser parents for having him be the one who's more present. Feisty Bernadette can bring big-shots to their knees, but in these cases I'd turn my sweet on.

And I turned it ON. I called Ms. Perzzi again and again, sucking up to her, begging and fake-crying. Finally, when I went to her office this morning, she caved.

This is why I had to get Bleachandra Samuels off my mind. I got to work late today, and I made calls to Ms. Prezzi during my work-lunch and extra hours yesterday, so I had more work than usual. It felt like a race against time. I even considered taking the company's new drug that stalls peeing, but I didn't want my saliva green for the weekend.

I know how to fight, I'm a tiger. I know how to work my ass off, I'm a badass. I know how to keep up, to never give up, I'm not a quitter and not a settler. I know how to win. At one thing. I know how to win a battle, but I don't know how to win multiple battles simultaneously. There's a reason I didn't perform juggling as my special talent at pageants. How do I do this? How do I win when there is so much going on at the same time? How do I keep one pin from falling while I handle the rest?

At five pm it felt like my head was going to explode and I heard my stomach growling like those of the subjects in our anti-appetite pill trial. But I did it. I finished my work, just in time to leave for Mikey's game.

I ran to the transport line I'd called, grabbing a jar of cookies from the kitchen at work on my way and stuffing a handful into my mouth. The ride was going well, I was even going to get there ten minutes early, and for the first time be the one who saved the seats for Howie and Riley, and Halley (if she does come this time, unless it's an important game she keeps her decision about coming to the last minute). Suddenly I noticed a block of lines in front of me.

"Son of a…!" I groaned loudly. I joined the honking chorus, to no avail. The road was blocked. Winter-lovers' rights parade. Ugh, stupid California.

I got off and started running, only to stop after a few feet. I couldn't, I just couldn't, I had no energy left. So I walked. As fast as I could. I wasn't as fast as I wanted to be, but I kept up a steady pace.

It felt like it'd been hours, but in reality I was less than a mile and a half away. When I finally got to the school gate I checked the time. 17:42, three minutes to the game. I smiled big, 'Just in time', I thought.

That smile didn't last long, as I soon heard _that voice_ , "So when it's about your son possibly winning something you do have time, Interesting."

I turned to look at Cassandra, wishing I really could shoot fire at her with my eyes. Her son wasn't even on the team, but she still came to sit outside the school, clearly trying to make a statement of her devotedness.

I had so much to tell her. So much. But seeing people making their way to the court, I realized something. I didn't mind dropping that pin. It did bother me, a lot. But I didn't mind dropping that pin, in favor of a much more important one. So I turned away and dashed to the court, using the last bits of energy I had left in me.

At 17:45 I sat down next to Riley, Howard, and Halley, breathing hard, but smiling widely. I made it.

This time.


	3. Another's perspective

_**A/N: Chapter time!**_

 _ **Writing from Sheldon's POV was definitely hard. I hope it feels IC enough.**_

 ** _Up until now I posted every 2 weeks, but I might post chapter 4 in three weeks, depending on when I finish writing chapter 5 (RL stuff is in the way)._**

 ** _Thanks to everyone who read, reviewed, favorited and followed. I love reviews, go ahead and write whatever thought that comes through your mind when reading. Special thanks to my beta reader joyteach._**

 ** _Reminder: Stephen is his own fictional character and is in no way meant to represent people with ASD as a whole. ASD is highly hetrogenous, if you met one person with ASD then you met one person with ASD._**

 ** _The Big Bang Theory still belongs to Lorre and Prady, at least until we get to a parallel univerese. I only own my beloved 7 OCs and to some extent (this story's) Halley and Michael._**

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Another's perspective**

 _December 2029._

 _[Sheldon.]_

Operation Cooper-Fowler Home Stabilization In Amy's Absence, Day 4, Captain's log. It has been four days since Mother Amy left for a convention on the neuroscience of addictions in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Up until today everything was operating according to the plan, not to the surprise of anybody, considering the individuals involved.

Day 1 opened with the departure of Mother Amy for the airport. Said event included the physical expressions of affection, such as hugging and cheek kissing between Mother and Son Stephen and Daughter Elizabeth; and lip kissing between Mother and Father - Captain Sheldon, restricted to four seconds as Mother and Father are not sentimental average Joes who would engage in excessive PDA on the street. The neighbors, however, are. Hence, hugging and cheek kissing did not remain exclusive to Cooper-Fowler Mother and Children. This has been forgiven on account of the neighbors being the Hofstadters, who are considered close family friends; as well as the risk of neighbor Penny "going Nebraska" on Captain (a phrase Captain assumes describes reckless hillbilly violence).

Subsequent activities included a prolonged visit, including lunch and dinner, to Neighbors' house, a frequent occurrence in the Cooper-Fowler weekend routine. Captain made sure to bring over chopped hot-dogs for his children and himself upon hearing the neighbors hadn't purchased any to complement their spaghetti. Captain scoffed at the occurrence. Rather predictable, given Neighbors' low alien attack preparedness scores. A video call to Mother Amy for updates was made from the Hofstadters' house that day, as expected.

Day 2 had Captain undertaking Mother's breakfast and school arrival shift. Son Stephen complained about Captain's apple slicing being different from Mother's. Son unreasonably rejected Captain's explanations of how his slicing was superior to Mother's, but eventually relented. Daughter Elizabeth rejoiced at Captain's permission to wear two skirts after being unable to choose between them.

Day 2 afternoon included the sewing of animal-themed flags, starting at 16:02, just as dictated by the operation plan. In accordance with the Sharp Objects Manipulation Agreement, Daughter joined Captain by putting her hands on his. A video call to Mother took place after dinner. After the children departed to their beds, Mother and Father engaged in naughty cybernetic behavior, describing the patterns of the presumed activity in their Nucleus Accumbenses upon imagining kissing. Captain is not proud of that, but until he is made an android, Captain has needs.

Day 3 breakfast went without complaints, it being Captain's usual shift. As agreed upon by both mothers and consequently included in the plan, Son Stephen and Daughter Elizabeth visited the Hofstadter house after school hours and until Captain returned from his longer day at work. Captain would like to note that the day wouldn't have been longer had the Physics Department not been so foolish so as to grant Leslie Winkle hours at the MD2000 Simulator room. Said Winkle caused additional delay in Captain's departure from the university by calling him 'Dumbass', thus engaging Captain in a non-optional name-calling battle.

Evening included a Professor Proton marathon and a subsequent reproduction of a chosen safe-for-home experiment from the show. Update talk with Mother was performed as din-fast. Captain and Children had dinner while Mother had breakfast. Captain later wrote a letter of complaint to the hotel in which Mother stayed for serving breakfast no later than 07:30. An aberration in the plan was avoided by Mother purchasing a loaf of bread the day before. Captain forgave the poor nutritional choice following Mother's argument that this was an emergency, given the threat posed to the plan.

Day 4 opened with feelings of relief by Captain and Son Stephen, for the expected arrival of Mother Amy at 17:49 would mark the return to the family's usual routine. Daughter Elizabeth showed signs of excitement, singing 'Mommy is coming' to the melody of 'Jingle Bells' (much to the chagrin of Captain, as the original song was not thematically related to the event) and skipping her way around the house.

At 07:11 a video call had been initiated by Mother. Captain rebuked Mother for initiating a call while on a plane. Captain does not accept flight companies' claims that such an action had been made safe. Captain does not appreciate the underestimation of the potential disturbance to the air crew. Mother apologized, but claimed to have an important reason for calling. She proceeded by delivering the devastating news of her flight having departed from Rotterdam three hours later than planned.

"I'm sorry guys, I can't wait to get back to you but I couldn't do anything. There was heavy rain and haze and the crew wanted to be safe," Amy said.

"But Amy you were supposed to land at 17:49, the plan says so. We were supposed to ascend the line to the airport at 17:00. If we do that, we will have to wait about three hours and 20 minutes for your arrival. We do not have a plan for such a long waiting time," Captain protested.

"Sheldon you don't have to leave at five. You don't have to leave at all, you could tuck the kids in and I will get home by myself." Predicting Captain's protest, Amy continued immediately, "Or, if you insist on picking me up, you could let the kids sleep at the Hofstadters'."

"Amy what are we going to do from 17:00 to 18:44? We have no plan for this time and evening routine starts at 18:45."

"It will be fine, Sheldon, I trust you guys," Amy responded, then turning to Stephen, "Stevie everything will be fine, I promise."

Captain noticed Son Stephen had accumulated tears in his eyes. Son dislikes changes as much as does Captain. Son's protests tend to be more emotional than Captain's, since as a child he is more prone to emotionality.

"No I don't want that! It is not according to the plan!" Stephen protested, stomping his feet.

"I know that my love, but you will have to cope. Tomorrow you could tell Laura how you managed to cope with this change of plans, we will all be proud of you," Amy responded.

Clarification. Laura is Son Stephen's psychotherapist. These so called 'Mental Health Professionals' claim Stephen has an autistic spectrum disorder. Disorder. Excuse my retreat to non-verbal expressions, but this deserves a 'Pfft'. They know Stephen is a homo-novus, a new, more advanced species of far greater intellectual capacities than their own. This all disorder poppycock is a conspiracy to keep him tamed and compliant. The only reason Captain allows these therapies and aides is his inability, as of this day, to dispute Mother Amy's argument that whatever label Stephen is given, it would benefit him to learn how to get along with neurotypicals.

Son Stephen remained silent, pouting and crossing his arms. Captain gently tapped Son's shoulder and told him to listen to Mother. Stephen is a rational, highly intelligent being and as such would not easily accept such an intolerable, chaotic experience as change. Captain had found, however, that change was at times inescapable and that at these times listening to Amy is helpful.

"Mommy, if your flight left three hours late, will you get home three hours late?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yes Lizzie, flight hours would be roughly the same, meaning your mother is expected to arrive at the airport at eight forty nine PM," Captain informed.

"Will I go to sleep late?" Elizabeth asked.

"Of course not. Your bed time will be the same as it is every day. This is causing enough chaos as it is," Captain answered.

"But Mommy was supposed to read with me tonight," Elizabeth displayed discontent.

"Lizzie, I'm sorry about that. How about we make a deal? Tomorrow we will read two books!" Amy suggested, smiling.

"Deal!" Elizabeth said, smiling. Her quick embrace of such unsatisfying compensations for change is baffling to Captain.

After finishing the call Captain and children left the house. Children were accompanied to school and pre-school by Neighbor Leonard as stated in the school arrival agreement. Captain took his usual line to work.

Just as Captain predicted, everything went fine until 17:01, the dreaded time for which no plan had been made. Captain and Son Stephen had a thorough discussion, in which they decided to use the next hours to model particle movement. Much to their dismay, peas and corn kernels, their preferred material for particle representation, were lacking in the house. Captain decided to turn to Neighbors in hopes of getting his hands on the desired material. Daughter Elizabeth suggested having a tea party with her dolls instead. Captain is hoping that Daughter's enthusiasm of such things is, as Mother claims, 'an age-appropriate phase'.

Hearing Neighbor Penny ending what he presumed was a phone call, in her backyard, Captain knocked three times on the fence shared by the Cooper-Fowler and Hofstadter houses, calling neighbor's name afterwards. Captain was experienced enough to continue this sequence two additional times in spite of neighbor's urging to open the fence door. Captain had suffered said response various times.

"Penny, do you have peas and-" Captain started, but was disrupted by the sound of rude neighbor's back door being opened.

"It's your lucky day, we have just bought two packets," Penny babbled after returning to her yard, "One pack of peas coming at ya'! Come close to the fence."

"No! Penny, no!" Captain yelled, knowing of Penny's ridiculous tendency to pass items to him by throwing them over the fence and into his yard.

Fortunately, Captain managed to flee and the packet came out undamaged.

"Daddy, can we please please please have a tea party?" Elizabeth asked, emerging from the back door.

"No Lizzie, we're modeling particle movement. This is no time for tea parties," Captain answered, irritated by the repeated request.

"Sheldon, what's going on? Are you guys doing okay?" Penny asked.

"Yes we are. Penny do you have corn kernels?" Captain replied.

Penny's distancing and then nearing footsteps sounded.

"Okay get Lizzie in the house or far from the fence" Penny instructed.

"She's inside, Penny DO NOT-" Captain started but was disrupted again by the throwing of a bag of corn kernels. Captain ducked, protecting his head with his hands. Fortunately he was spared as the bag did not land on his head, his precious, brilliant head.

"Penny, I have said it before and I'll say it again, you throwing items at me is unacceptable!" Captain berated.

"What do we say, Sheldon?" Penny asked.

"Penny, I could have been terribly hurt!" Captain protested.

"Sheldon, tell me what we say or I'll lend you some peanut butter, unpacked," Penny replied.

"Thank you, Penny," Captain answered rapidly, dreading the results of such action.

"Daddy we could have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at our tea party!" Elizabeth said, tugging at Captain's pants.

"Elizabeth, we are not having a tea party. Tea parties are a waste of time and are your mother's responsibility," Captain clarified.

"Sheldon, are you having problems?" Penny asked.

"Lizzie appears either to misunderstand or repeatedly challenge my refusal for us to have a so-called 'tea party' with her and her dolls," Captain replied, "Do you have anything that would solve that?"

"Hold on," Penny said, walking back into her house.

Two minutes later various footsteps sounded.

"And he keeps sticking to his?" Neighbor Leonard's voice sounded.

"He keeps being Sheldon. Now go sla- talk some sense into him," Penny responded.

"WAIT! PENNY NO! I CANNOT SUPPORT HIS WEIGHT! " Captain screamed for dear life, shrinking, closing his eyes and covering his head with his hands.

"Hey, Buddy" Captain suddenly heard. Opening his eyes, he saw Leonard closing the fence door. Leonard's son, Max, ran into the house to greet Elizabeth.

Leonard sat on the lawn chair to the right of Captain's lawn chair. Captain sat on his chair, because he wanted to do so. Captain doesn't adhere to Leonard's requests, even though by an absurd decision he was appointed Captain's superior, first as head of the physics department and then as vice president of the university. Malarkey. These people had made poorer decisions, however, choosing previous physics chair Doctor Gablehouser and current one, Doctor Ehlert.

"Having problems with Lizzie?" Leonard stated the obvious, as per usual for him.

Captain scoffed, knowing Neighbor's foul habits were beyond fixing. "As I am sure you have already heard from your wife, Lizzie insists on using our unplanned time for a tea party with the participation of her toys. I am not going to invest time in such futile, preposterous endeavors. Also, tea parties are Amy's responsibility."

Leonard sighed, "Sheldon, you get that she's a three-year-old, right?"

"Yes. She is three years, nine months, six days and 23 minutes of age," Captain answered, after checking the time on his clock.

"Buddy, tea parties with dolls are her idea of fun, she just wants to have quality time with her daddy," Leonard claimed.

"Leonard, please. Modeling particle movements is fun. Watching 'Doctor Who' is fun. Throwing a 'Star Trek' marathon is fun. Playing 'Counterfactuals' is fun. 'Fun with Flags', as indicated by its name, is fun. A tea party is not fun." Captain shook his head at neighbor's suggestion. Elizabeth is a brilliant homo-novus and as such should be able to distinguish fun activities from irrational nonsense.

"From your perspective."

Captain looked at Leonard questioningly.

Leonard remained unresponsive for about four seconds, and then took a breath. "Okay, let's try this. Buddy, do you remember when you were a kid, and you used to read comic books most of your free time, and your parents didn't like that?"

Captain scoffed. "They would always nag me, 'Shelly, go play outside', 'Sheldon, leave that toy train and come watch football', 'Shelly, if God wanted us to read comic books he wouldn't have had all these explosion drawings and distorted fonts in them'. They never realized comic books were fascinating, a glorious world waiting to be discovered by this extraordinary mind."

"Well, tea parties are like Lizzie's comic books. From her perspective, they are wonderful. Sheldon, I know it's hard for you to understand another's perspective, but try, for your daughter. Try seeing it through her eyes, as you wanted your parents to do for you," Leonard tried to persuade.

Captain was annoyed by the suggestion of a perspective-taking exercise. Son Stephen is instructed to perform such exercises to help with his "disorder". Captain sees his and his son's difficulty in performing them as an indication that they do not fit with the homo-novus brain, suggesting members of the homo-novus species do not need to perform them. Why would they need to understand another's perspective, if their minds were much more evolved than others'?

Before Captain responded, Daughter Elizabeth and Neighbor Max approached Fathers. Captain caressed Daughter's back, knowing that as opposed to Captain and Son, Daughter enjoys physical touch and sees it as a sign of affection. Captain also enjoys caressing Daughter, as with her it is surprisingly relaxing and not at all disconcerting.

"Daddy, can we pleasy pleasy have a tea party? Maxi wants to too!" Elizabeth asked.

Captain considered Neighbor Leonard's arguments and also, admittedly, was influenced by Daughter's emerald eyes and general cuteness. Captain sighed. "But, Leonard, while this is an unexpected extension of operation time, every activity should nevertheless be compatible with the family routine agreement. Operation time activities are planned according to the 'Operation' sub-section. There is no clause to justify the five of us participating in a pretend tea party."

Leonard seemed to be thinking, and then raised his eyebrows and said "What about the love clause?"

'The Love Clause'. Drat. Excuse my foul language, but the love clause has this kind of ill effect on me. By legal standards, that clause is the most terrible clause I have ever written. 'All family members shall treat each other with love.' Not a single definition of what that would entail, not a single word on repercussions. I had tried to come up with those for weeks but failed. That clause is a complete disgrace, showing there, next to the other, astutely written, clauses of the family routine agreement, mocking me with its preschool nature. Yet, I could not leave it out of the agreement. That felt wrong.

Captain took a deep breath, shaking his head to rid of the image of the mocking clause. "Okay, Lizzie. We will have a tea party."

"Really? Yay Daddy thank you thank you!" Elizabeth grinned and hopped up and down.

"But," Captain pointed his finger at Elizabeth, putting a stop to her hopping, "you do not say 'pleasy' young lady, you say…"

"Please." Elizabeth answered, and then took Captain's hand trying to pull him up to his feet, "Let's go prepare!"

Captain and neighbors Leonard and Max followed Daughter Elizabeth into her room, joined by Son Stephen who was informed about the change of plans. Son had accepted the change after being guided through a perspective-taking exercise.

Daughter Elizabeth educated everyone about the rules and appropriate conduct at a tea party and assigned roles. Captain was assigned the role of 'Master Assistant' to 'Queen' Elizabeth Mary Cooper-Fowler. Attire included Captain's red plaid pajamas and a cap. Lacking a trumpet, Master Assistant was allowed to use a conductor's whistle when announcing the guests and the official beginning of the party.

First to be introduced was 'Prince Charming' Max Wyatt Hofstadter, granted special privileges by the queen, such as being served first and drinking out of the tea cup with the queen's drawing of a smiley on it. Second was 'Duke of East' (originally 'Duke of Right', name later corrected by Captain) Leonard Leaky Hofstadter, then peasants Oinky Piggy, Gingerboy and Greeny Parrot, 'Wise Man' Stephen Isaac Cooper-Fowler and singers Soft Kitty and Curly Girl.

The course of the party was almost interrupted twice. The first time was when Master Assistant almost lifted the table when moving his leg when slightly losing his balance due to sitting on a chair which could only support less than a sixth of his behind. However, Master Assistant had masterfully adjusted himself. The second time was when Duke's scarf of honor, made out of Queen Elizabeth's pink cotton blanket, almost fell on the floor. That was also avoided thanks to Master Assistant's alertness. All participants concluded that the party had been successful.

"I'm proud of you, Buddy," Leonard said when leaving the Cooper-Fowler house. Captain smiled in response. Not that he needed that. Not at all.


	4. Most suitable

_**A/N: So here I am posting this one after two weeks after all. I'm almost finished with chapter 5 and have a hard time refraining from posting so... That being said, the next one could be posted in three weeks, depending on my progress with chapter 6.**_

 _ **Thanks to all who read, follow, favorited and reviewed. I really mean it. I love reading reviews so if you have anything on your mind when reading let me know. Special thanks as always to my great beta reader joyteach.**_

 _ **I only own my 7 OCs and to some extent this story's versions of Halley and Michael, but hey that's something! The other characters, settings, etc. belong to Chuck Lorre and Bil Prady.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 4: Most suitable**

 _January, 2030._

 _[Leonard.]_

"Are you done there, Princess?" I asked Sophie, who had been arranging the family pictures on my office desk for the last 15 minutes.

"Almost, just a little to the left…" she answered, moving one of the picture frames for what I believe was the ninth or tenth time. She then took a step back, carefully examining the result. After about half a minute she turned to me, apprehensive, "How's that?"

"Absolutely wonderful!" I grinned and picked her up for a hug and a kiss on the cheek, getting her sweet giggles in return.

Stephen, Sheldon's eight-year-old son, who was standing by my side, inhaled deeply, closing his eyes with a contented smile on his face. "Ah, the sweet air of organization."

The boy does appreciate organization, which is a point for his friendship with my perfectionist daughter. If you want to have something perfectly organized Sophie is your person. That is, if you have a lot of time and patience.

Today was the day I officially started my job as vice president of Caltech, and officially moved into my new office. I've been learning the job for months and have been gradually doing more and more of what it entails, to the point you could say I've already been doing it for about a month or two. Still, this was my first official day.

I sat in the big,comfortable chair that was now mine and opened the drawer where I kept the name tags they gave me for events. 'Professor Leonard Hofstadter, Vice President of Caltech'. It would sure take time to get used to that. You'd think that after being chair of the physics department, getting promoted wouldn't be such an incredible shock, but it was very hard to believe, even six months after the announcement. I still have the feeling that every minute they're going to tell me they'd made a mistake and I'm not the one they actually chose.

As it turned out I was so absorbed in my thoughts that I hadn't noticed the head of human resources, Mrs. Davis, had entered my office. The door was open since I have a policy of keeping it open, unless I'm in a meeting or otherwise busy. And when Penny's there. She always locks the door. "In case I can't resist the charms of big boss Pop-tart", she jokes (on the not resisting part, not on making out).

Mrs. Davis apparently noticed I was distracted and was talking to the children, who were watching a live-stream from one of the chemistry labs.

"Doctor Jacob's lab," she noted. "They do interesting experiments. Do you guys know what they're doing now?"

"They're testing the new ammonia synthesis device they've just finished developing," Sophie said, her eyes glued to the screen in deep concentration. She then glanced quickly at Mrs. Davis and turned her eyes back to the screen, blushing and nervously adjusting her glasses. Being this focussed, she forgot she was talking to someone who wasn't very close to her, which would usually be hard for her. I couldn't help but smile.

"Wow, you really know your stuff, Sophie!" Mrs. Davis said, genuinely impressed.

Sophie looked at her with a shy smile.

"Do you like chemistry?"

"Yes," she answered quietly, playing with her long blond hair.

"Mrs. Davis, do not take the volume of Sophie's voice to indicate her level of enthusiasm about chemistry," Stephen said, "Sophie is shy. She speaks quietly with people she is not comfortable with."

Another point for Sophie and Stephen's friendship - his bluntness does help sometimes when she is being shy. Stevie has ASD, which means that, like his dad, he has social deficits. Reading social cues is not as instinctive for him as it is for others, so he has to learn this explicitly. Since many times he also doesn't realize that other people have perceived the cues, he tends to straight-out tell them his conclusions. This and not understanding well what is and is not appropriate to say makes for him being blunt.

"By that he means people who are not in her close circle," I added, "Please do not take offense."

"Oh no, I got that, I'm not offended," Mrs. Davis answered and smiled at the kids.

She then stood up and walked to me, adding in a low voice, "Don't forget I know his father all too well. Frankly, he's a clear improvement. He hasn't called me a slave, 'dirty mouth' or a cultural appropriator, due to wearing 'Coca Cola colors' for Christmas, so he's far above my expectations."

"We really shouldn't have let him watch that multi-culture show without guidance," I nodded solemnly.

Mrs. Davis nodded in agreement.

"Well, Leonard, I just stopped by to wish you congratulations and good luck. We may have met in not all favorable circumstances in your early and not-so-early years, but I knew those were drops in a sea of excellence and devotion. You have proved yourself in your former role and throughout all of your time here. You truly deserve this," she said, with a smile on her face.

"I don't kn-" I started, but then heard my wife's voice in my head, telling me not to doubt myself in front of university seniors. "I don't know what to say to this," I corrected, "Thank you very much Mrs. Davis." I smiled and shook the hand she offered.

About an hour later Howard came in, looking exhausted, with a beaming Max running in front of him.

"Daddy I saw a robot playing video games!" Maxi said as he ran to me, his brown curls messier than usual.

I sat him on my knee. "Really? Video games?" I wondered, looking from Max to Howard.

"Space navigation simulator," Howard corrected, "No need for special inspection mister boss man, we're doing serious work. You know, when we're done making adult robot movies."

I laughed with him, but given that the guy once had his penis stuck in a robot's hand, I wasn't sure he was joking. I mean, he doesn't do things like that now that he's married and has two kids, but I've heard from his 11-year-old son that he can turn every video game into a flirting lesson.

"Also, by 'saw' he means watched from a reasonable distance and still managed to almost trip and pull out the cables, which would cause a loss of three hours of data," Howard added, sitting down after Maxi joined Sophie and Stephen, "That was after dropping a tablet carefully placed in his _two hands_ , which yours truly saved at the last second, and bumping into Bert while he was carrying a tray full of cups of coffee. Thankfully it was Bert, so all it did was slightly move the bottom of his jeans. Seriously, Leonard, the kid's a walking hazard. Are you sure he's not an infiltrator from a rival species?"

I chuckled, looking at Maxi. He was clumsy indeed. Somehow things would always fall out of his hands, sometimes hitting other things, making for weird domino-like accidents, like the one that started with a card tower and ended with our kitchen sink being half yellow. There's also a lot of catching Maxi or stopping him from spinning around in our house.

Taking Maxi on a tour in the engineering labs was doomed to be an exhausting mission, but Howard said he was willing to do it. Maxi's excitement upon seeing Uncle Howard making the equipment for 'space heroes' like himself proving itself a strong motivator for the man who came to be known as 'Fruit Loops' on his space journey.

Fortunately, Maxi was satisfied with watching the lab stream with Sophie and Stephen for the next hour. This being only his second visit to the university (excluding ones when he was a baby and his daycare), he was very excited about every little thing there. Generally, I let my kids come to Caltech whenever they want, from roughly the age of four, which is Maxi's current age. Riley and Sophie love it there and have never caused any interruptions. Maxi might require more supervision. With their mom working there too they also have a place to go when I'm in a meeting.

Although soon this won't be the case anymore. We've decided that she'd quit if I became vice president. We just thought it would be weird and frowned upon, even though the university seniors tried to convince her that they'd make sure it'd be fine. I asked her if it was okay with her repeatedly, until she threatened to lock me in the attic, and repeatedly ask if it was okay with me. She does like her job here but she, we, are excited about other plans we have. We're planning to open a fund to teach important and useful science principles and discoveries to the general population. Penny would be the main person to take care of its operation after she finishes her work here. She originally planned to quit a month or two after I was chosen for vice president but finally relented to her superiors' requests that she'd stay six months longer.

Penny wasn't there today, actually. She was being chaperone on Riley's school trip to the Natural History Museum. Being a very attached mother, she goes on every school activity the kids have that allows parents. She could write a book on chaperoning. Well…she could make a video.

This time, however, it was more important to her than usual. Some months ago, at the beginning of the school year, we found out that Riley was practically attacked by most of her grade. They claimed she thinks she's better than everybody, being a genius, and threw her out of their gathering. They couldn't be more wrong. Our Cub is such a humble girl. And, like Penny, She's got a good heart and is very caring and accepting of others.

When Penny found out, she was beside herself. While it may have come off as intense anger, yelling that she wanted all the kids who were involved, and their parents, to pay, I know that a lot of it was deep fear, hurt and anger at herself for not preventing it. Riley may have cried that day, but Penny cried that and the two following nights. Since Riley had begged us and her principal not to do anything too obvious about it, and had refused to tell the names of those who initiated the whole thing, there wasn't much we could do. But ever since, Penny was extra vigilant around the kids in Riley's grade, trying to see if anybody threw a funny look at Riley and also glaring at those she 'caught'. I know Riley doesn't like it, but given Penny's feelings, I believe this is the most subtle she can be.

I found myself with quite a lot to do today, all the bureaucracy involved in officially entering the job adding considerably to my usual tasks. Thankfully, after Sheldon finished his work he took the kids for another tour of the university. This tour focused on the 'great achievements' he had made through (dozens of) complaint letters to relevant divisions. Stevie and Sophie have already been through this tour various times, but thanks to Sheldon's incredible skill at being a pain in the ass, there were always additions to it.

It was about an hour after Sheldon and Stephen left that my kids and I left the university. We got home about ten minutes before Penny and Riley. We were sitting on the couch in the middle of our living room, thinking of what we wanted to eat for dinner, when we heard the sound of keys rustling.

"Daddy!" Riley shouted, running into my arms at the moment Penny opened the door, beaming. With a hat, a t-shirt and two stickers on her pants with dinosaurs, butterflies and the logo of the museum, she looked like a walking gift shop.

"Hey, Cub" I chuckled, kissed her cheek and hugged her. I snickered at Penny while doing so, in response to Riley's clothing. Penny shrugged and snickered.

After exchanging hugs and kisses we all settled down, Riley, me and Sophie on the middle couch and Maxi and Penny on the one to its left.

"Wanna tell us about your trip?" I asked Riley, already knowing the answer.

With her big green eyes opened wide, her eyebrows raised and with a big grin not leaving her mouth for a second, she went on talking for almost 20 minutes straight, recounting all the fascinating things she saw and heard at the museum.

"Wow that sounds awesome!" I said with a grin after she finally finished.

Riley nodded, grinning, while taking deep breaths to compensate for barely taking a breath when talking.

"Ooh I forgot to tell you about the lizard statues!" she suddenly said, her eyes wide at the realization.

"How 'bout putting your backpack in its place first, Cub?" Penny stopped her. Riley was so excited that I think she didn't even notice she still had her backpack on. "Daddy and I are going to make dinner, meanwhile you kids can think about everything you want to share when we eat."

"So…how was _your_ trip?" I asked Penny as we walked to the kitchen, the kids walking upstairs.

"It was fine," she shrugged, "I put my sunglasses, jacket and purse on some prehistoric animals when the teachers and guide weren't looking," she smirked.

I chuckled and shook my head.

"Hey, they looked sophisticated and fancy," she smiled, satisfied. "And I didn't get caught. Although you should have seen that 'Seriously?' look Riley gave me. I think we should exchange roles, next time I'll be the kid and she'll be the chaperone," she laughed.

"Yeah, that sounds more fitting," I laughed.

"So how was your first day as vice president, mister big-shot?" Penny asked while she started heating the cooking water for the pasta.

"First, it's Professor big-shot," I grinned smugly.

Penny smiled, narrowing her eyes with mock anger.

I went out and got some basil leaves from the yard, making for a brief pause in our conversation.

"It's just weird, you know?" I said after washing and starting to cut the leaves, my back to Penny, "I already got used to the job itself, but now I'm officially the vice president of Caltech. They had enough time to regret it, and they didn't. They had months to say 'Hey Leonard, you know it turns out we have made a mistake, you were not the one we thought was most suitable for the job, you were the least suitable.' But here we are."

"You're still not over them choosing you, are you?" Penny asked, a hint of frustration or tiredness in her voice.

I sighed. "I'm sorry. I just can't believe they said I was the most suitable. I guess choosing me as chair of the department was kind of like saying I was the most suitable, but then the announcement was..smaller, and there weren't such good candidates. And immediately after that announcement Siebert told me he hoped I could keep that 'madhouse' under control. So it felt like I was given charge of the problem kids, which was nothing new to me. It was still a shock, but not like this time. It's just… I.. No one had ever deemed me 'most suitable' before."

"Excuse me?!"

I turned around to see a now definitely upset Penny, looking at me with her eyebrows up, blinking, her mouth slightly open.

"What is all of this, then?!" she asked, gesturing around her, "What is this?!" she lifted her hand and pointed to her ring, "What are those three little ones upstairs?!"

I didn't respond, knowing the chances were high that I'd just piss her off even more.

Penny sighed, leaning on the counter next to me, her forehead in her left hand. "Sorry," she said after a short moment, and then looked at me. "I know you can't help yourself doing that," she looked ahead of her, "It's like a reflex or something. I mean, you've gotten better so it doesn't happen all the time. But you just can't believe you're worthy, even when there is so much, what you'd call 'evidence', to show that you worth a great lot. You're not the best scientist when it comes to yourself, you know?" she looked at me, smirking. She got up and took my hands in hers.

I caressed her hands with my thumb, relieved and thankful at her dissipating anger and increase of closeness.

"It's like nothing is enough, ever. Like nothing can fill that hole you've got there. Sometimes it's just so frustrating. Not just because you stick to yours, but mostly because it hurts me that you can't see how great you really are. Leonard, I chose you, I thought and I still think you're the most suitable for me. And I don't regret that for a second, even when you're driving me crazy." We smiled at each other. "Honey, the people at the university love, respect and appreciate you. They know what an incredible scientist, teacher and boss you are. I _know_ this. Not just because I like to eavesdrop," we chuckled, "but because I see it in the way they treat you. Some of them also told me that directly, some right in front of you. Just like me, they don't and are not going to regret choosing you. Although they might not be as forgiving of your 'Toy Story' foreplay as I am," she smiled, that mischievous sparkle in her eyes. "I chose you and look how amazing my life turned out. I'm absolutely sure Caltech will get so much better with you too. And, you know, I chose you for a friend, then a boyfriend, then a fiancé and then a husband. They chose you for a researcher, then a chairman, then vice president... it may take some time but you know what the next step is…"

"Vice president doesn't guarantee-" I started but stopped at my wife's eye roll.

We smiled at each other and leaned in for a kiss. God I love this woman.

"Mommy, did you burn the food again?" we heard Max shouting from upstairs.

That's when we noticed the burning smell. Separating, we looked at each other and started laughing, going into '(Mom's) burned food mode'.

She may not be that suitable for a cooking job, but I think Penny is definitely the most suitable for me.


	5. Unnoticed

_**A/N: New chapter time! Managed to finish chapter 6, so here's 5.**_

 _ **This one's quite long. As I said the chapters are "stand-alon-ish" and there are differences in time and POV so some get to these lengths.**_

 _ **Thanks to all who read, favorited, followed and reviewed. I love reading whatever comes to your minds when reading so just write it down :) Reviews for earlier chapters are also very welcome.**_

 _ **Special thanks to my beta reader joyceteach and to Tensor for helping me with finding a location for this chapter and with Star Trek stuff (he also has a great new Lenny story, BTW, and so does marcelb).**_

 _ **I don't own anything that has to do with The Big Bang Theory. The money I would have... But that belongs to Lorre and Prady. I do own my beloved 7 OCs and to some extent this story's Halley and Michael. As I said, though, I may allow borrowing characters (PM me).**_

* * *

 **Chapter 5: Unnoticed**

 _April, 2030._

 _[Michael.]_

Today was the day! After weeks of waiting, finally it came! We were going to Griffith Park! It was going to be off the hook, I knew it. We would get to see Griffith Observatory where Transformers and three movies of the Terminator franchise were filmed, and Ferndell Nature Museum where episodes of Star Trek Next Generation and Deep Space Nine were filmed.

I was so excited that I could barely sleep last night. I lay down but didn't feel tired at all, so I went out to shoot some hoops to get tired.

"MICHAEL WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING?!" my mom yelled, looking out of my parents' bedroom window.

My dad seemed thrilled. He's thrilled about everything basketball I do. He still thinks being on the basketball team will be the solution to every problem I'll ever have. "Seems like he's putting those evasive Wolowitz tall genes to good use," he answered Mom, grinning.

That grin was wiped off his face quickly when she shot him a glare. I chuckled, but then got a glare too, making me gulp. Mom yelled at me to go back to bed. You might laugh at me for buckling under so easily, 'cause she has this squeaky voice and I'm over 3 inches taller than her now. But trust me, she's hella scary.

I woke up hours before I had to. I tried getting back to sleep but couldn't, so I used the time to decide on my outfit. I wanted something that said 'I respect the place, with style'. When I showed Riley my options yesterday she said they all said 'Gulliver,' (she calls me that now 'cause I'm the tallest in my family) 'If we're saying anything, it's go see a psychiatrist!'. She really doesn't get fashion, but she's my best friend so we turn to each other for help.

When the time finally came, and the mini-busline we called for the group (the Hofstadters, Koothrappalis, Cooper-Fowlers and us) stopped at our house, I ran right in it to take my place next to Riley. She was still kinda sleepy, she's not a morning person. More like a morning zombie. I laughed at this thought, making Riley, who probably guessed it, give me a glare. But she couldn't keep it up that long and smiled after a second, which automatically made me smile back. It always happens, I don't know why. Maybe it's because we're best friends. Or because she's so pretty. She's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. But _DO NOT_ tell her that by any means, PLEASE! She will hate me! She hates when people say she's beautiful because they think that makes her vain and that she can't be that smart, which is ridiculous. I like her because she's brilliant and fun and cool and funny, not because she's pretty. It's just impossible not to notice.

Then we started talking about the trip and I told her about last night which made her laugh. She said she couldn't sleep too and tried walking around the house to calm down, until her mom just picked her up (which she can do 'cause Riley's tiny), took her to her bed and cuddled her until she fell asleep. That means, 'til her mom fell asleep. Riley fell asleep sometime later.

"Too bad I didn't know you were awake too, we could've talked to each other," she said.

I agreed. Talking to Riley would've been much more interesting than staring at the wall. Maybe it would've helped me calm down too. When we're together we do get kinda like in our own world, like my mom says. Looking around, I realized that's what was happening on the drive. The bus was a mess.

Sitting behind us were Aunt Penny and Sophie, Riley's sister. I remember they were quiet when I got on the bus. Riley got her morning zombieness from her mom. But now Aunt Penny was very awake and excited talking about plans for Sophie's eighth birthday, which is next week. She's really into birthday parties for her kids. Sophie seemed to be taking everything in, she had that 'thinking frown' all the Hofstadters except Aunt Penny have (they got it from their dad).

On the other side were Riley's brother Max and Lizzie (Cooper-Fowler), sitting on special seats for little kids 'cause they're both four. I think they were playing pretend pilots or something like that. They were quite loud, screaming to each other things about meteors and skyscrapers.

Behind them were Uncle Leonard, Riley's dad, and Uncle Sheldon (Cooper). Uncle Sheldon seemed to be complaining, which he does a lot. From what I could hear he was talking about trains. He kept pointing to things on the screen he had projected, which showed a map of the park and Uncle Sheldon's trip plans. He's a weirdo, that's for sure. He makes a strict plan for every trip we go on, even if it's just a picnic. We mostly ignore him, especially my family. It's mostly Uncle Leonard or Aunt Penny who try to talk to him to make him make changes in favor of others or just accept that we're gonna split up for some parts of the trip. That's sucks, I really felt sorry for Uncle Leonard, who kept groaning.

To make things worse for Uncle Leonard, there was apparently an argument going on between Uncle Sheldon and Uncle Raj (Koothrappali), who was sitting behind Leonard and Sheldon and next to his wife, Aunt Anaya. I heard Uncle Raj yelling something about a presentation that "will blow your mind so bad that your particles will spread around four different galaxies". He was probably talking about something in the Griffith Observatory. Uncle Sheldon yelled back that it was impossible, saying something about the matters involved. I don't know what Aunt Anaya was saying but according to her body language I'd guess she was trying to get them to settle down with some Hindu practice. Uncle Leonard threw his head back and closed his eyes.

My parents were sitting on the other side of Uncle Raj and Aunt Anaya. I think they were arguing about something, but I couldn't hear a word. Maybe it was still about Dad messing up with the laundry. All he had to do was get it out of the clothes folding machine (we have almost every kind of machine there is, especially if it makes for less chores for Dad) and bring everyone's clothes to their room. He totally messed that up and got all our clothes mixed up. Mom thinks he did it on purpose, so she wouldn't ask him to do it again. Dad claims he's just really _that_ bad. I tend to believe him, although it was unbelievably bad. I mean, he even gave me one of Halley's skirts! I wore it, just for laughs. It was only a bit longer than my boxers. Riley thought it was hilarious, especially when I did my girl impression, but Halley did _not_ appreciate it. Long story short, I now know how painful waxing one's legs is. This was one of the moments I was actually glad I still don't have a lot of body hair.

Halley and Dakota were behind my parents. It seemed that Halley was giving Kotie fashion tips, as usual. Kotie's only six and she really looks up to my sister. I guess it makes sense, Halley's a real 'fashionista'. Actually, she's kind of the reason I like dressing up nice. When we were younger she always wanted to help pick out clothes for me and she taught me what was in. She doesn't do that anymore but sometimes she gives me a tip or says my clothes look good.

On the last seats on the right were Stephen (Cooper-Fowler) and his mom, Aunt Amy. She was trying to comfort him and help him deal with all the noise. Stephen is eight but he's very sensitive to noise so this must've been hard for him.

"Poor Griffith Park doesn't have any idea what's coming at it," I suddenly heard Riley say, laughing.

"Boo-yah!" I imitated Ron Stoppable.

We both laughed and sat back, only to stand up a minute later when we got to the park.

We started with a tour of the park in one of the park's inner lines. We had a guide there who was the only one who laughed at his jokes. We did have a good laugh at the end, when after the guide got off my dad said it turned out there's an even creepier joker.

At least the guide did do his job and told us about all there was to see and do there, which was A LOT. That's when Uncle Sheldon started arguing that this meant we all should stick to his plan. He started reciting it, so fast so that it all started sounding like he was chanting a spell. Everybody groaned. In the end, Uncle Leonard reminded him of what they'd talked about on the way. He and Aunt Amy finally managed to convince him that we should split into groups according to what we each wanted to do.

So it was decided that the Cooper-Fowlers enjoy their train-day, Uncle Leonard and Aunt Penny go with Max to the pony riding (which is really a two-person job 'cause he's so clumsy that he's like a walking tornado), and the rest of us go to the Griffith Observatory, where Uncle Raj said he'd guide us through "the marvels of space". Dad made sure to make the point that he's actually been to space.

Surprisingly, Stephen decided to go with us. He said that he'd read that "children should engage in a gradual process of separation and individuation from their parents" and that this would be an opportunity to "venture away and explore the world" by himself. It may have been, if the moment we split he didn't tell Riley that as his 'pseudo-sister' (God knows why she agreed to that) she was now responsible for him and they should remain no more than 25 feet apart.

The Griffith Observatory was fascinating. I can't believe my dad was really up there! I also can't forget because he always talks about it. Now the people who were there with us won't forget it, either. He went on and on, to everyone who passed by, about space, being an astronaut, a hero, being with "fellow brave astronauts" and whatever else was remotely related to his space journey. Meanwhile, Uncle Raj, being an astrophysicist, boasted of his knowledge and made a show out of every note he made. Aunt Anaya and Kotie looked like they were in an incredible magic show, even though they've been to observatories and have seen pictures of space so many times. Mom was busy trying to balance supporting Dad and stopping him from being too embarrassing.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but maybe we should've gone pony riding or train sighting," Riley sighed.

"Would you look at that, sometimes you do make sense," Halley scoffed. Of course even when she agrees with Riley she has to turn it into an insult.

"At least I can deny being related to him," I smirked at Halley.

"Oh look at me, I'm so tall, I play basketball" she mocked me with a stupid voice (not at all like mine), but then she seemed to be having some sort of realization. "Hey, you know what," she said, turning to Riley, Sophie and Stephen as well, "Why do we have to stay with them? We're not little kids anymore. I'm 13 and Michael's 12. Riley's just almost 11 but she's Ms. Genius so no one cares."

"It's not-" Riley tried to protest, but was cut off by Halley shushing her.

"I say we go ask them to let us go outside and stay in the park doing our thing while they do theirs."

We looked at each other, thinking. Riley and I silently agreed on it, and then she asked Sophie and Stephen.

"We're in," Riley announced.

We all went to my parents, Halley leading. She intentionally interrupted when they were arguing in front of a couple my dad was trying to talk to, so they'd be distracted when they considered it. Dad thought we were trying to get away from Uncle Raj. As usual he wasn't able to turn his 'Superstar' down. Mom wasn't that easy, but finally agreed, after Halley made sure to tell her how well she taught us to fend for ourselves. They made us promise to stay outside in the park and play and take care, and that we'd call them if anything went wrong. I think Mom may have said something more, I think I heard "area", but we were on our way out and couldn't hear her.

We went out, excited at our freedom. I took a deep breath, my eyes closed, "The air of freedom!" I dramatically said.

Riley and Sophie laughed, I think Halley also did a little. Stephen mostly seemed confused. Riley then did the same as I did, Sophie following her. Stephen tried to join in but inhaled too much and started coughing.

"Easy there, you don't want to take all that freedom in at once," Riley smiled at him, checking that he was okay.

"Noted," Stephen responded. "So, how do we proceed?"

We looked at each other. We didn't really have an idea. I was about to suggest recreating scenes outside the observatory, when suddenly I heard Sophie say quietly, "Hey, doesn't this man look like Commander Sisko?"

I turned my head, looking at the man she was talking about. She was damn right, walking with his back to us, that man looked just like Commander Sisko in Deep Space Nine.

"And he's taking the line that leads to the Bajoran Monastery!" Riley said excitedly, referring to the Ferndell Nature Museum that was filmed as the Bajoran Monastery in the series. "Should we follow him?" she asked, turning to us.

"Riley, I believe he is not really Commander Sisko, as Commander Sisko is a fictional character," Stephen stated, puzzled.

"I know, Tivo, I mean like a game, just pretending. We did say we'd be playing."

"We also said we would stay outside, in the park," Sophie reminded, hesitant.

"We will still be outside in the park," I shrugged.

"If you guys keep talking so much _he_ won't still be in the park!" Halley nudged, surprising us by her involvement. She does watch Star Trek at home with Dad and I but she sometimes paints her nails or texts while watching and she never joins these pretend games. Or any games with us if it's not a whole gang thing.

"It could be a pretty cool adventure," Riley said.

At that Halley suddenly started running. She turned around a moment later and yelled, "Come on, we gotta catch the next line if we wanna get him!"

At that we ran after her, going on the line that stopped a minute later. It only took four minutes 'til we got there because it's close to the observatory.

We got off the line and started walking to the entrance, when suddenly a giant busline stopped and dozens of, I think Chinese, tourists got off it. We looked at the non-stop flow of Chinese people, stunned for a moment. The problem was when they started coming in our direction. We realized we might lose each other among all the people. It was like a herd was about to run over us. And they were all talking in a language we didn't understand. It was confusing, like when Aunt Anaya starts quoting Hindi sayings passionately (although in that case I know what to do - smile and nod).

"Everyone, hold hands with those next to you, fast!" Riley yelled.

I took Riley's hand, she took Stephen's and he took Sophie's. Halley eventually took mine, with an "Ugh, fine."

We started walking the trails, searching for Sisko. A few minutes later I heard Riley ask, "Can you see anything, Gulliver? All I've got here is shirts and bags."

I looked down, realizing the others were buried in the sea of people. "I got heads and glimpses of a bridge." I looked at Riley and waited for her to talk, seeing that she had her thinking frown on.

"We need to change our strategy, we can't locate him from inside this crowd. We should go to some corner and try searching from there," she said.

"I'm afraid that would not make a large enough contribution to our efforts. We would not be able to see for a long enough distance," Stephen responded.

"What if we used binoculars? I saw some inside the coffee shop," Sophie said.

It turned out the coffee shop did sell binoculars, as well as old-style cameras, hats, bags and so on. The problem was we didn't have any money. My parents usually give Halley and me some money for emergencies, but Halley spent hers on nail polish like the one Mariana Pequez wore at the Kids Choice Awards and I spent mine on a one of a kind special yellow Spiderman action figure Uncle Stuart sold me at a special price.

Deciding to put her charms into action, Halley went to the salesman, who was tall and had grey hair. She approached him from beside the line that seemed to accumulate. It appeared there was some problem with the cash register.

"Excuse me, Sir," she said in a soft voice, "My friends and I really need a set of binoculars like those wonderful ones you have here-" she said in a cutesy tone, smiling and looking at him sweetly.

But the man was apparently one of the few who are not moved by her acts. He cut her off saying, dryly, "That 'll be 17 bucks."

"Yes," she said, putting on a cutesy sad face, "you see, sadly we don't have any money on us, and our parents had to leave due to an emergency, and with all the people we just can't-"

"Darling, either you pay or you leave. I have one dead cash register and too many angry customers to care for right now." He was indeed unimpressed by her. Any other day I would enjoy it and laugh at Halley till my guts hurt, but right now it was a hell of a bummer.

"This shouldn't be anything good reasoning can't settle," Stephen said decisively, approaching the salesman himself.

"Sir, I believe we have here a case of misunderstanding. Likely causes are lack of knowledge, lack of expertise in the chosen form of communication, differences in social and cultural background or worldviews or, as my father has taught me, inferior intellect. To make up for possible lack of knowledge, I inform you that we are interested in borrowing one set of binoculars for an important mission to find Commander Benjamin Sisko. A minor request, really, for a grand mission," Stephen told the salesman in that kinda formal tone he has.

"What?" the confused man turned his head from the cash register to Stephen, questioningly.

"I see. Either a language problem or inferior intellect," Stephen concluded, causing all of us to slap our hands against our foreheads.

"Are you calling me stupid?!" the man asked, incredulous.

"We need more cuteness," Halley said as she approached us, taking Sophie by the hand and placing her in front of the salesman.

Poor, shy little Sophie just stared at him wide-eyed. She blinked at him, he looked at her. She blinked at him, he looked at her. This was getting nowhere.

"Michael, do you have the universal battery your dad gave you?" Riley asked, half-whispering.

"Sure, I have it on me all the time," I half-whispered back.

"Would you be willing to not have it for some time, for our mission?"

"Umm yeah, sure, for the mission," I answered. Although I'm just not good at saying no to her, never mind a mission.

"Is it full?"

"Yeah."

"Great," she smiled.

We both approached the salesman. "Umm Sir, I really don't want to bother you, but I have a suggestion that may help you with your cash register situation," Riley started, getting the man's attention.

For some reason, after turning to us he took a quick glimpse between us. Maybe he was looking at Stephen standing behind us, that would reasonably make him hesitant. "And that is?" he asked.

"I noticed your cash register keeps turning on and then quickly off, and that you seem to be looking for something in your drawers, and you called the cash register dead which is what my mom calls everything that has no battery left. I guess it's kind of resurrection of the dead every day at our house," she said, nodding slowly. The man and I laughed a little. "Anyway," she shook her head, "I guess you're out of battery."

The man nodded.

"We happen to have a universal battery here," she looked at me.

"Oh!" I got the message and took the battery out to show him.

"We would like to offer an exchange. We'd lend you the battery if you'd lend us a set of binoculars," Riley concluded, smiling.

"Universal battery you say? Does this really work?" the man asked.

"See for yourself," I handed him the battery, smiling, and explained to him how to work it.

"Holy sh- moly !" the man said, surprised. "You got yourself a deal kiddos, here take one set of binoculars each!" he immediately hung the binoculars around our necks.

We all thanked him and started to turn around to walk out, when he said to me, quietly, with a smile, "And boy, seems like you've got yourself gold there, make sure to keep it." He added a wink at the end.

I have no idea what he was talking about, but I played along, nodding with a smile and a wink of my own.

We ran back to the trails, figuring Sisko would probably be deep inside by now. By then it was a little less busy. Looking for a good sighting spot, we found a bench to stand on. Sadly, that wasn't enough. Being the tallest, everybody looked at me expectantly when I took the binoculars into my hand and held them in front of my eyes. But I didn't have a good enough view, there were still too many people. We started thinking of a better spot when suddenly I felt myself being pulled back.

"Stand still!" I heard Halley's voice in my ear.

I have no idea how she did it, but in like a millisecond Halley was sitting on my shoulders. There's really no stopping her when she has something to achieve. Luckily, she's not only short but also skinny so she didn't break my back.

"There he is! Up that road!" she yelled and pointed, making me groan immediately, my ears just beneath her.

As quickly as Halley climbed on me she climbed down and started running after Sisko. We ran after her a second later, we needed a moment to realize what had just happened.

Although he was quite far from us, Sisko walked slowly, so we got close to him in a short time. We made a much needed stop a few feet from him. We really needed to take a breath, well, mostly Stephen who I'm not sure ever ran that much in his entire life. Also, we didn't want Sisko to notice us. After all he wasn't really Sisko and he may freak out seeing a bunch of kids following him.

Over the next couple of minutes we were busy following Sisko without getting caught. It was kinda like in the movies, whenever he turned around, even a little, we quickly hid. Until that pigeon showed up, right behind us.

"AH! Intruder! Intruder! Hostile intruder!" Stephen yelled and jumped from behind the big sign where we were hiding at the moment the pigeon made a sound.

The frightened pigeon flew right past Halley.

"EW EW EW!" she yelled, flailing her hands in front of her face and stepping backwards, getting out from behind the sign as well.

"What is going on here?" we suddenly heard a familiar voice ask.

Looking to the source of the voice, Halley, Riley and I were absolutely shocked. "Mister Turner?!" we asked at the same time.

The man who looked like Commander Sisko was Riley and my current and Halley's past History teacher! And he didn't just look like Sisko, he was cosplaying as Sisko! With the uniform and all!

"O..h.. Hi kids," he said, with a face like he was totally busted.

There was an awkward silence for a minute. I think during that time he looked weirdly at me and Riley.

"So... Are you on a trip here? Where are your parents?" he finally asked.

Now we were about to get busted.

"In the park, we're old enough that they let us hang around on our own," Halley said simply, smiling, trying not to seem suspicious. Always act calm and confident when you're lying, that's what Dad taught us. And Mom too.

But Stephen had to open his mouth. "More specifically, my parents are supposed to be in Travel Town right now, Riley and Sophie's parents where there are ponies available to ride and Halley and Michael's parents are at the Griffith Observatory. Our permission to 'hang out'", he made quotation marks with his hands, "in the park was granted by Halley and Michael's parents who were assigned to watch over the rest of us by our parents. We have decided to go by a liberal interpretation of the terms of our permission, allowing us to come here."

Way to go. I made real effort to stop myself from groaning, resulting in that thin kinda smile. Riley and Sophie had those kinda troubled smiles, like bummed but sympathetic to Stephen.

"Details, details," Halley smiled awkwardly.

"I believe these are all the details that should be included in our report for the commander," Stephen answered, confused, "Is any more information warranted, Commander?"

"I believe not," Mr. Turner responded. "Tell you what, kids, you will now go back to the observatory, I'll accompany you to the line that goes there, and we will all forget about this, crew secret, okay?" he suggested.

"Crew secret," we agreed, smiling and nodding.

We walked out of Ferndell in an awkward silence, passing by the coffee shop on our way to give back the binoculars and get my battery back. Then just when the line came by Mr. Turner broke the silence, "This is it. Have a nice trip kids. And Michael, I hope you remember it's your turn to bring the oldest available pictures and items of your family."

Damn it. Mom's gonna kill me.

"Yes, Sir."

Once we got on the line we started laughing, especially Riley, Halley and me. Actually, Stephen seemed confused but joined in.

"Well we did get to see Commander Sisko," Riley said.

"I didn't have an idea how right I was about him looking like Sisko," Sophie shook her head, still laughing.

"I wish it was a little longer, but we did have quite an awesome adventure!" Riley said with a wide grin.

All but Halley agreed, but I know she also had fun.

"I believe our fathers would be excited to hear all about it," Stephen said, grinning.

That's when the smiles went off our faces. He was gonna screw us bad.

"Umm I'm not very sure about that…" Sophie said.

"Yeah, Tivo, we might not wanna tell them about that, you know going to Ferndell and all…" Riley said, Sophie, Halley and I agreeing.

"But they will probably ask us what we have done," Stephen responded.

"We were hanging out in the park, that's all they need to know," I shrugged.

"That would be very unspecific, to a point nearing it being a lie," he said and started getting nervous.

"No no, no, it's not a lie, sweetie," Riley said quickly, "It's just..not a full disclosure. You see, we've just been through a special mission, as an exclusive action team. Details of such missions should remain among the team only," she smiled nervously.

"Wait, so I'm part of an exclusive mission team?" Stephen asked.

"Yes," "You are," "Yeah," we answered, hoping that he'd buy it.

"Oh goody!" he said, totally excited, "Thank you for the honor!"

When we got back outside the observatory my parents and the Koothrappalis were still inside. But a minute after we figured that out I suddenly felt my hand released, heard Riley yelling "Daddy!" and saw her running to her dad, who was getting off another line at a further stop, with her mom and Max following him.

I looked at my hand. That was weird, I hadn't even noticed Riley and I were holding hands. I remembered when we took each other's hands at Ferndell, when we all held hands so we didn't lose each other in the crowd. I remembered Halley letting go of my hand when we got to the coffee shop, but I didn't remember Riley or myself letting go. I guess we just didn't. I mean until we got back.

The group got together outside the observatory, and we managed to keep our 'adventure' to ourselves. Phew.

But our family had to go to my grandparents' so we went on another line we called and not on the line with everyone else. Bummer. But it was a good time to easily bring up the stuff I need for History.

Yeah... Mom sure didn't like that.

"How could you tell me that just now, three days before you need it?!"

"I don't know Ma... I just..didn't notice it was in three days," I lied.

"How could you not notice? Michael you have a calendar, you even counted the days for this trip!"

I shrugged.

But hey, they didn't notice we were at Ferndell! They didn't have any idea that we took a line there, made a deal with a salesman, found Commander Sisko and got back, all while they were at the observatory.

When you think of that, it's kinda funny. Some things just go unnoticed. Like we didn't notice our teacher was a Star Trek cosplayer. Or when Mom hides one of Dad's favorite belt buckles to make him organize their closet. Like people don't notice Halley does watch Star Trek. Or like the kids in my class don't notice when I go to catch up with Riley at recess, or that I'm not into all they're into but I just play along.

"It better be the last time, Michael, or you're not going to Princeton with the Hofstadters!" Mom threatened.

"I'm going to Princeton with Riley?!" They told me they'd think about it, they didn't tell me they agreed!

"Bernie! We agreed that I'd tell him!" Dad complained.

"AWESOME! Thank you!" I couldn't reach to hug them, but I came close. "Riley said that exposition is gonna be amazing! They have human cell simulations and nano lasers!"

"Yeah that's why you wanna go," Halley smirked.

I don't know why she said that. Maybe she noticed something I didn't?

"Stupid brother."


	6. Adjustments

_**A/N: Chapter time :)**_

 _ **I want to thank everyone who read, follows, favorited and reviewed. I know I do this every time but I really do appreicate it. I like reading whatever thoughts come to our minds when reading, including on previous chapters.**_

 _ **Special thanks to my great beta reader joyteach.**_

 _ **This chapter has some references (e.g., "You remember that fund I told you about, right?") to Penny's previous chapter ("The Corollary Theory: The Celebration Aberration"/Chapter 9). There's no need to read it to understand this one (due to the references), but it does explain how Penny's attitude toward her family, that you can see throughout the story, came to be.**_

 _ **I do not own any single bit of The Big Bang Theory. That's belongs to Lorre and Prady. I only own my 7 OCs and to some extent this story's versions of Halley and Michael.**_

 _ **(I do wonder if with season 12 being the last one the BBT team will make their own versions of the gang's future families, that could be nice!)**_

* * *

 **Chapter 6: Adjustments**

 _June, 2030._

 _[Penny.]_

Damn those forms. Forms, forms and more forms. Sections, sections, sub-sections. Sign here and here, list all paid positions there and there. I've already listed them on this form and the other one in three sub-sections (or were they sub-sub-sections?), why can't they take it from there?! It's not like I'm gonna write anything different! Someone should open an organization just to help people with the bureaucracy of opening organizations (don't look at me).

You remember that fund I told you about, right? The one my husband and I wanted to open, to teach useful science stuff to people who are not in science. Now that Leonard is Caltech's vice president, as I knew he'd be, and I'm not doing promotion for them anymore, we're working on making 'The Hofstadter Fund' happen. We're planning on opening in September, this way we're available when the school year starts. We figured schools could be an important audience for us.

That means forms, forms and more forms. I swear it's never-ending. Leonard got back early one day and we both filled out like dozens of sections, and there was still so much! And then there are all the plans that need to be made, checking on the renovation work on the building, ordering equipment, trying to find good lecturers and have them volunteer (we can only pay travel costs, it's a non-profit and there's enough to pay to operate the whole thing), and of course getting more donors.

We did manage to get some great lecturers for September and October and some for later months on our trip to this big exposition at Princeton last month, after all I am a people's person, and the kids being there helped. Still, we need more.

There are also those we have on board but need to find something to teach kids or adults who aren't much into science, and a way to make it understandable. There are scientists who don't do lectures to the general public. Then there's our friend Sheldon. I don't think he could do it even if he actually did try to accommodate to that audience (which he won't). But he did want to help, which was unexpected, so we may give him 'special timeslots' before or after opening hours. I know this sounds harsh, but there's like a 99.99% chance he'll call the audience stupid in one way or another. Not exactly what you want when you're trying to encourage people to learn something that's not 'their thing'. But if somebody's coming specifically to see Sheldon Cooper, that's all on them.

It wasn't easy, but it was for something good. I sure like that. And I do like the recruiting and promoting, for a good cause. These are some of the things I liked most in my previous job, promoting Caltech. That, along with being closer to Leonard, and later to the kids when they were at the daycare there and later when they visited (they love hanging around there). That was actually what got me there. I was pregnant, with Riley, and I wanted the family to be together as much as could be, so I visited Leonard whenever I could. Professor Siebert, then president of the university, was busy with promotion at the time, he wasn't happy with what they had. We ran into him a few times and talked about it, and I just made suggestions off the top of my head. Finally, he offered me the job.

Remembering how I thought the forms for entering the position in Caltech were a lot, I smirked to myself, before getting back to work.

"Mommy?" I heard Sophie's sweet little voice from my doorstep.

I turned, seeing her peeking through, irresistibly cute as always, with her white glasses and dark blue hairband today, to match her dark blue with white stars shirt. I gave her a big smile and opened my arms for her to come into, which she did with a sweet smile.

I picked her up, squeezed her and kissed her head. "What's up, Princess?"

"I'm a little hungry and I wanted a pear, but I can't reach it, can you help me?" she asked.

"Of course!"

Good, Penny, your baby is hungry and you're filling out some stupid forms.

I used that break to check on the other kids in the house. 'In the house', because I suspected Michael would be here. Michael is Riley's best friend (BFF, she would correct) who's a year older than her, and the son of two of our best friends, Bernadette and Howard. Riley and he spend _a lot_ of time together, either here or at his house. We let him come here whenever he wants, so we always assume that if Riley's home he may be here too.

Sure enough, I found those two working on that drone Michael's family found that they had last year. With Howard's help, who's an engineer, they made it able to travel between our houses. It's quite small and weak so they use it to pass stuff like notes and superhero dolls (if anybody asks, I said 'action figures'), just for fun.

"Hey guys, what-ya' doing there?" I asked.

"Hi Aunt Penny," Michael smiled and we high-fived.

"Oh hi Mom," Riley raised her head from the drone and smiled. "We're trying to see if we could get long-distance wireless microphones on the drone, so we could talk to each other through it," she said, grinning, "Sophie already found the perfect potential spots for them."

The kids smiled at each other.

"Sure, sure. But could you use it to store pickles?" I jokingly asked, thinking back to my tin can phone, so lame next to what they were doing.

They all looked at me confused.

"Never mind," I said dismissively, "Sophie and I are going to grab a snack, anyone hungry?"

"Mm I think I can wait," Riley said.

"Yeah I'll wait too," Michael said.

We asked Maxi the same, passing by his room, but he was too busy reading a book, and stopping him in the middle of a chapter is nearly impossible. Mind you, my four-year-old was reading a book on gravity, for school kids. That's great, of course. I just hoped Leonard would be home by the time he started asking questions on that. And that he wouldn't ask to do an experiment or make something related to it, 'cause I have fallen before with these things I don't understand. One time Sophie asked if she could do something with laundry and something that sounded like Phyllis, which I thought was some kind of a book or a TV show. The next thing I knew, there were decomposed laundry pods and oil all over the floor of our basement.

We sat down on the couch to eat. "Cheers", I said, as I bumped my pear with Sophie's.

"Cheers," she giggled, and we started eating.

"So, how's your rain forest model going?" I asked her after a few bites. Kids make so many models these days, it feels like a conspiracy to guarantee there are buyers for crepe paper and colorful Bristol boards. My girls don't have to do them 'cause they're much more advanced than their classes and study their own material, years ahead of their grades, but they want to be a part. We support this, but it'd be nice not to have my hands full of glue once or twice every month.

"Umm," Sophie started fiddling with her fingers," I decided on a place for the Capybara, but then I thought I should see if the Lemur fits there better because maybe it does and I wouldn't know because I placed the Capybara before him, and Ms. Solano or the other kids may like the Lemur better. But I decided that was a better place for the Capybara. I think. And then after I watched 'Princess Romi' I tried to choose in which color to write the animals' names. I'm down to seven options now."

I heard her watching 'Princess Romi', about an hour ago. Poor baby, she always has such a hard time choosing. It's like almost every choice she makes is like…well, 'Sophie's Choice'.

"How 'bout I help you once we're finished?" I suggested.

"But you were busy with the fund..." Sophie answered.

"Yes, but you need my help, and this is one of those rare times I can actually help you with something for school," I chuckled.

Besides, if I'm home and my baby needs help, how can I not help her?

For the last few months I've been working from home all the time because we don't have the fund's offices ready yet. I also don't have events anymore. That means I don't have to miss any time with the kids anymore. I'm always home when the girls come back. Sometimes I also get Maxi out of preschool a little early. This way I get to help them with whatever they're doing (unless I don't have a clue what it is) and just be with them whenever they want.

I know this takes up my time, and I get behind on my work. Helping Sophie this time wasn't any different. I didn't get back to the forms that day. I finished helping Sophie with the model, and then Maxi wanted to tell me all about the book he'd finished (he was so into it that he didn't even sulk when I called him 'Chubby' and didn't remind me he's not chubby anymore, like he always does), and then Leonard came home and we caught up, and then it was dinner time. But, like I told you before, when I found out I was pregnant, with Riley, I made the decision that I'd give my family my all.

So after dinner I found myself sitting in the living room, staring hopelessly at the projected screen showing so much I still had to do.

"It will be over, it's a lot but it does have an ending," I heard Leonard say as he came to sit next to me and put a hand on my shoulder. He'd just finished looking after Maxi in the shower. And I do mean 'looking after', Maxi knows what to do but he's so _incredibly_ clumsy that we don't let him shower alone, even though we have many precautions, including a colony of adhesive ducks Sheldon had installed when we moved in (it sounds crazy, but in Sheldon terms it was a very sweet gesture).

"Are you sure? Have you checked it? Maybe it's like a wormhole and it just goes on forever," I smiled a small, tired smile.

"Wormholes don't-" he started.

"Not now, Leonard," I dismissed, raising my hands to signal him to stop.

"Sorry," he smiled his sympathetic smile.

I sighed, "There's so much to do, I have no idea how I'm gonna get it all done in time."

"Honey, we don't have to open in September, I don't want you to feel so pressured," he said while rubbing my shoulder.

"No, I want to open in September. It will be much easier to get schools to come if we open about when the school year starts, and we already have lecturers, we may lose them if we postpone. I thought I'd do more today, but there were other things to do, Sophie's project and Maxi with the book…"

I could see him looking for the right words.

Sighing, I said, "I know what you're gonna say. I ask myself for too much. But I can't, I'm home, I should be with the kids and for the kids for whatever they want or need."

"I know," Leonard said with a soft smile, "You can't have it any other way. You're too great a mother."

I had to smile and hug him for that.

Leaning back, I saw that he had his thinking frown on.

"You know what, we should take that as a rule," he said a few seconds later.

"What?"

"You can't be home with the kids without doing whatever you can for them and spending most of your time with them. If we take that as a rule, then we should look somewhere else for a change."

"O..kay, but where?"

"We could think of it as an equation," he looked at me, seeming to have a realization. "We've had a lot of changes lately. I started my new job, you quit your old one, you started working full-on to open the fund, and you now do most of your work from home. That's made for differences in outcomes, they can't stay the same with this many changes. If we want to make a change to allow you to get more work done, at least the work that is harder and should be done sooner, we need to make changes, adjustments."

"I thought we took me being with the kids more when I'm home as a rule."

"Yes, but you're not alone in this. If you can't get enough work done when you're home, then you need more time away from home."

"If I want to get these forms done I need a lot of time away from home," I said, looking at the screen, "Like, at least two weeks with long hours. We can't do that, I don't want the kids wandering around friends' houses for two weeks."

Leonard thought for a moment. "You know, with all that I had to do with starting the vice president job I haven't taken any days off for a long time. I think I could take about two weeks off, maybe four days each week… How about we do kind of a switch? For the next two weeks I'll be home four days each week, and you can go work at my office. No one else will use my office because only the few who signed the secrecy forms can be there without me, that includes you. And everyone loves you at Caltech, they'll be happy to see you. The two other days we can find a solution, you know, have the kids stay with friends, but just for one day each week. How do you feel about that?"

I took a moment to consider that. "It would be hard…I'm gonna miss the kids like crazy, seeing them only late in the evening before they go to sleep…I don't think that's happened..well, ever. But at least there will be the weekend… And I guess I would get a lot done that way…And the kids will be with you most of those days… Would you be able to not work from home? And take them to their friends and activities? And go to Tommy J.'s birthday party with Maxi and Lizzie? 'cause I already told Amy I'll-"

"Honey, honey," Leonard took my hands in his and looked me in the eyes, "I said 'swtich', I'll do whatever you would do, and no work at all."

"Good," I nodded,"Great," I smiled. "But I don't have to do any budget plans or equations, right? 'Cause I got the adjustment thingy in this case, but I don't think I can actually do it."

"No, no," he chuckled.

"Good," I chuckled.

"So you're going to be at the university for the next two weeks?"

We both jumped at Amy's sudden interruption.

"Amy?! What are you doing here?" I asked, seeing her standing next to our kitchen island.

"And how did you get in? And when?" Leonard asked.

"Why?" I added.

"One at a time, Neighbies," Amy said as she came to sit on the couch on the right.

"Sheldon is working on a problem he's been having for some time now. He wanted to be as focused as possible so he waited till the kids went to sleep and asked me to find somewhere else to stay for two hours. And I got here through the fence door, obviously, and you didn't lock your backdoor, although I do have the key. I've been here for a minute or two. You know, when you live with two people who are very sensitive to noise you learn how to be quiet," she shrugged, "I'm probably at about the level of skill of a fairly experienced burglar by now."

Leonard and I looked at each other, weirded out. And slightly scared. It's not uncommon for Amy to just come in here but we usually see her coming. At least that's what we'd like to believe…

"So Bestie, you're coming to Caltech! That's great news!" Amy said excitedly, "It'll be like the old days!" (by that she meant a few months ago) "You do still come to lunch, but you always seem to want to have it with Leonard."

"Yeah I'm quirky like that," I said sarcastically, but I don't think Amy picked up on that.

"Wait, you're going back to Caltech?" a high-pitched voice sounded from upstairs.

"Bernadette?!" "Bernie?!"Leonard and I said at the same time, turning to see her and Michael walking down the stairs.

"Oh you got here first after all," Amy said calmly.

"Okay, forget the rest, just.. _why?_ " I asked.

"Amy said she'd be here so I thought I'd stop by and also pick up Mikey, so he didn't walk back home alone," she answered.

"Mom I'm 12! I'm not a little kid anymore!" Michael complained, "I'll be having my Bar Mitzvah in less than a year now, I'm gonna be a man," he grinned proudly.

"How 'bout you first get rid of your Elmo underpants, mister man?" Bernie responded sarcastically, with narrowed eyes and a thin smile.

"Mom!" came from an embarrassed, red faced Michael.

"Anyway," I said, after some chuckles, "I'm not going back to my old job. I'm just going to work there for the next two weeks, while Leonard's with the kids, so I can get some work done."

That's when our friend Anaya (Raj's wife) opened our front door, "So you're gonna be working for it all the way! Good for you!"

This time we didn't even ask. We may need to reconsider all the 'emergency' keys we've given out.

The next week we started our plan. It sure wasn't easy for me. I made sure to be home before the kids went to sleep every night and caught up with each of them, but it was way too little. I didn't get to spend enough time with my husband either. At least we shared the office one day each week. I kept myself going by telling myself that if I made good progress I wouldn't have to work a lot at home while the kids were there, which I hate.

Anaya and Bernadette called to support me every now and then, knowing I'd have a hard time. They were kind of good cop-bad cop, although I don't think they planned it. Amy kept coming in for coffee, bringing the coffee herself, so I had that covered. Sheldon insisted on making me a schedule. I rolled my eyes at it, but I admit I did use some parts of it. Howard helped by keeping Raj away when he wanted to whine about Anaya not letting him hire someone that does princess makeovers for Kotie's seventh birthday. Leonard was right, I was not alone in this, but not only were the two of us in this together, we had this crazy bunch to help us.

I also heard about the good time my babies were having with their daddy, and saw pictures and videos. That made me very happy, but it also hurt that I wasn't there. I missed my family terribly.

So when the last day of those two weeks came I was so happy and eager to go back home, that I worked almost twice as fast. Once I finished what I had planned for the day, two hours early, I decided to call a line instead of taking a regular one. I packed my stuff and got home as fast as I could.

I was so excited to be back home in time for dinner, with the kids fully awake and not sleepy like I've been meeting them lately, that I had them covered all over with the lipstick I renewed a little earlier. It was a good thing they hadn't showered yet. I wanted to give Leonard one strong mark on the lips, and maybe some others on his neck, but with the kids there we had to settle for a weak mark on the lips and save the rest for later.

Some hours later I sat down on the edge of our bed, leaning back on my hands. Leonard just came out of our en-suite bathroom.

I grinned at him, as he came to sit next to me. "Home, sweet home. So good to be over with this."

"Can't argue with that," he replied and gave me a quick kiss, but then looked a bit worried, "I just hope it wasn't too bad. You know, we could have ended it early if it was too hard on you."

"I know, sweetie, but I really did need it," I nodded, "You know, I got a lot of work done," I smiled.

"Really? What have you done? We barely talked about that because you were too tired."

"Hold on," I said and went to get my computer.

I projected a small screen when I came back to my place on the bed, and started showing Leonard the filled forms, telling him about all the forms I'd submitted.

"So you're done with all of that? That's great!" Leonard said, grinning, his eyebrows raised.

"Mhm," I smiled proudly, "and Sheldon is preparing the tax exemption forms for when we're registered. He said he'd be done by tomorrow."

"Sheldon? How did you get him to fill forms for us? I know he enjoys that, but for the last couple of weeks he's been working hard on the Lego version of the Cooper-Fowler house flag," Leonard frowned.

"Let's just say I got him a Kripke-free morning."

Leonard chuckled.

"But there's more," I smiled and opened the schedule for September and October, now with a nice number of lectures and other activities scheduled.

Leonard's eyebrows shot up, making me giggle.

"Wh- how- you-" he stammered, then settling for just looking at the screen for a minute. "You got Professor Kernweiss?" he asked, surprised.

"She was visiting our social psychology labs with her team, you probably know they're thinking of a collaboration, I think with Doctor Garcia's lab."

Leonard nodded.

"I 'happened to' run into her at lunch and have a little talk. Half an hour later I had her booked," I grinned.

"Unbelievable," Leonard smiled while shaking his head. "And you got Doctor Majari for a footage commentary! He said he doesn't do free presentations!"

"Well now he does," I shrugged, still grinning.

"Penny that's just..that's amazing! _You're_ amazing!"

We both had these huge smiles. We hugged each other and then shared the good long kiss that had been waiting from before. Booking all these people made me very happy, but Leonard's reaction had me thrilled. I try not to show it that much, I don't want to seem insecure, well, I don't want others to know of my insecurities, but when Leonard compliments me and is proud of me for stuff like that, I'm like, on cloud nine. I know it's silly but I can't help it.

As we broke the kiss I started playing with Leonard's curls. "So I think I kept track of what happened here when I was gone, I wished I could be here with you guys but it seems like the kids had a wonderful time with Daddy home," I said. "But I only heard Chubby's view of the party today. How was it in 'the grown-up section'? Oh and did you remember not to bring anything with peanuts?"

"Yes, your little chant was helpful: Tommy J. can't have PB&J and is in _p_ re-school, with Chubby. With them is Tommy A., for whom everything's okay, but Tommy Troy can't have soy and he's in class with _So_ phie."

"Good."

"But I may have signed us up to be in charge of decorations for the beginning of the next school year party, "his smile was now an apologetic one.

"What? Leonard, I told you, always go for canned food!" I groaned.

"I know but I wanted to make up for…"

I narrowed my eyes, "What did you do?"

"Nothing much…I just…I was next to Marie Chen and I haven't got to talk to her that much before so I got nervous, thinking I wouldn't have anything to say. I started telling her about the time I chased Sheldon in a ball pit like the one at the party, but somehow I got to the ways the size of the balls could influence a person's movement in a ball pit."

I sighed and shook my head, smiling. That's Leonard for ya. He's so nice and friendly and can be great to talk to, but when he's nervous he'll ramble until something happens to stop him.

Looking down, I suddenly noticed something. "Umm, Leonard, are these remains of my nail polish on your right hand?"

There was the apologetic smile again. "Yeah… Sophie wanted to put on nail polish for the weekend, and I did tell them that in these two weeks I'd do whatever Mommy did… I managed to get rid of it on my left hand but I guess I missed a few spots on my right, when I got to it it was time to make dinner…"

I just laughed, "Alright, we will take care of it in the morning."

"Hey, is this a pad file on your computer?" Leonard asked, looking at the screen.

I don't usually use the pad app but Leonard uses it a lot, it's kind of a replacement for those whiteboards scientists like him used to use all the time.

"Oh yeah, I used it to scribble some things when I started thinking out the schedule for opening day."

Leonard looked at me, then at the pad file icon, and then at his hand. We both started laughing. Well, he did say a switch.

He then went to the door, closed it, looked at me and said one of my go-to..umm..'initiation lines', "Pants off, Hofstadter."

I crossed my arms, smiling, while trying to hold a laugh, "It's Professor Hofstadter."

A second later I was lying on my back with him over me, kissing me all around.

Yeah, we've already done all the adjustment needed in that area.


	7. Play it well

_**A/N: Chapter time!**_

 _ **As I said, you don't need to read "The Corollary Theory: The Celebration Aberration" to get this story, but it is sort of an exposition to this one and shows how some of the characters and character dynamics got the way they are. Chapter 6 of Celebration ("Not fair") will help you understand more about Halley's views and feelings about Riley, here it is only summarized.**_

 _ **Recess and free times at school may be somewhat different than usual in this one, but keep in mind it is the first day so it may be a bit different than usual, and it's also in 12 years from now so things may be slightly different.  
(And if there are any "Wicked" fans out there, there is a bit of Glinda inspiration in some of the lines)**_

 _ **A general note that is especially relevant for this chapter: The chapters are written as if the characters are speaking to some outside observer, so they may not be entirely honest about their thoughts and feelings.**_

 ** _Since I will not have my computer with me in two weeks, the next chapter may be a dew days late. I will try publish through another device but I cannot guarantee I'll succeed._**

 ** _Thank you very much to all who read, follows, favorited and reviewed. I really enjoy and appreciate your reviews, just write up whatever comes to mind when reading. Special thanks to my great beta reader joyteach._**

 ** _I do not own The Big Bang Theory, that belongs to Lorre and Prady. I own my dear 7 OCs and to some extent these Halley and Michael._**

* * *

 **Chapter 7: Play it well**

 _September, 2030._

 _[Halley.]_

The first day of school. First day of ninth grade. Another year to kill it, and one to make sure I'm on top, now that we're gonna be in the high school building and not the small middle school one for the seventh and eighth grades. They're both in the same area, surrounded by the same fence, but please, everybody knows the big building is the _real deal._

I had my new tartan patterned dress with different shades of pink, 'ballet slipper' being the dominant one, my new chestnut platform shoes, rose-pink glitter covered rose shaped earrings and white rose shaped hair pin holding a small strand of hair on my left side. Perfect first day look. You never get a second chance to leave a first impression.

But I had something to do first, before I passed through the gate. Justice. I had to serve Riley some justice, because of yesterday, and also to show her that this year ain't gonna be any different. She'll still get what she deserves to make justice, even though that's not really enough.

You see, 'Little Miss Genius' keeps wrapping everybody around her finger. She still thinks she's all that and so does everybody in that group we have with the Koothrappalis, Cooper-Fowlers and Hofstadters. At least some of the kids in her grade do realize how she is, although they probably don't understand how bad that is because they're not stuck with her as much as I am. Last year they kicked her out of planning the Autumn Fair, it was awesome and I thought finally people would see the truth! But NO, everybody else still treats her like the greatest thing since lip-gloss, and she still has her friends at school. And I still don't know how she does that. Stupid me, thinking it's ever gonna change.

Yesterday wasn't any different than the usual. Stephen was talking about how he doesn't get the kids in his class and how they interrupt classes and get mad at him if he tells the teachers or if he says they should get more homework, even though he studies his own stuff, like Riley and Sophie. Hang on before you call him an ass, he's a special kid. He doesn't get people and doesn't know how to behave with them. Aunt Amy reminded him that they said everybody has different feelings and goals when coming to school. But of course, Riley had to play hero. Instead of leaving it at that, she told Stephen to write down things the kids in his class did that he didn't understand and they would use it to figure out what those kids' thoughts and feelings could be, like a science research. Of course everybody was so impressed with her and kept talking about how great she was.

So she had to pay.

I was getting even more angry at her because I was losing time with my friends, 'cause I had to wait for Uncle Sheldon to leave. The Cooper-Fowlers and Hofstadters have this weird arrangement that every day one of the parents accompanies all of the kids to school.

Once he finally left I called her "Hey, nerd-boy!". I didn't want to waste time so I mixed two burns together. Although, her clothes really say it all. I mean, she freakin' wears t-shirts that are a little big on her, mostly with science stuff or science jokes and sometimes superheroes, with plain hoodies and boring pants and sneakers. Today she had a lead-grey hoodie, iron-grey jeans, lilac sneakers and a violet shirt that said "Technically it's always full" and had a drawing of a glass of water with symbols, I think for water and oxygen. That was clever. But stupid.

She sighed and turned, doing that annoying eye rolling she does, "What do you want, Halley?"

"Why so grumpy so early in the morning? Already tired of all of us _stupid_ , _poor_ normal kids?" I yelled for everybody around to hear.

Michael, who was standing next to her, had to meddle to protect his dream-girl (who he doesn't even get he loves LOL), "God, would you grow up?! You're in ninth grade, when will you stop this?"

"When she stops thinking she's the greatest thing that happened to humanity!" I yelled, and then added quietly, "And you better stay out of this, Mikey, if you don't want everybody in middle school to know you're hanging out with a sixth grader all the time."

Actually, I knew I wouldn't do that. Not because I care about my stupid brother and his not-girlfriend-so-girlfriend, but because he's my brother and his image being hurt may hurt mine.

"It's fine, Gulliver," Riley said.

"Oh look at you so mature," I said, and then checked the time, seeing it was 10 minutes before school starts. "You got lucky this time," I told her, "but don't you think I will let you get away with things, nothing's gonna change this year, pretty little genius," I said in a mocking tone. That was another blow 'cause Riley hates being called pretty. Or at least that's what she says, maybe it's just one of her ways to make people like her. She also kinda looks like that girl from the show I watch with Uncle Raj when my parents are not around.

I started walking away but turned around a bit after a few steps to watch those two dummies.

"So..different schools, huh?" Michael said, scratching his head.

"Yep," Riley nodded.

There was like a minute of awkward silence.

"So texting at first recess and by the fence at the last one," Riley said, smiling.

"Yeah," Michael smiled and nodded.

"Well, have a great day at your new school!" Riley said.

"Have a great day at your not new school!" Michael answered.

They chuckled at his stupid joke and then looked at each other goofily for another silent moment, smiling, before they did that stupid greeting they have with hand-shakes and high fives and all that (which sometimes they do when saying goodbye, which makes no sense).

I shook my head, turned away and kept walking the moment they started that greeting.

I got to my homeroom like five minutes before school started.

"Halley! Oh my god!" Jemma screamed and ran to me as she saw me, making Britney, Taylor and Ivory turn around and do the same.

We gave each other cheek kisses and Brit, Tay and Ive told me how they loved my look. I told Brit her sapphire and banana-yellow tartan patterned skirt was cute, because it was. Their other clothes weren't all too great and I don't give away too many compliments so they get that my standard's high.

"I..thought we were supposed to think tartan was for ironic Emos" Jemma said.

"Uh, that's tartan with four or more colors," I reminded. Seriously, if she's not reading the articles I send them at least three times then why bother?

"Oh yes, yes of course, I was just messing with you," she laughed nervously, "stupid Jemma."

"Here, Halley, I saved the middle seat in the front row for you, just as you like it," Ivory said, moving her jacket from there.

School's not hard for me but I do need to follow in class to learn something. There's the CC on our screens but it's hard to follow if I'm far from the teacher, where everybody would also try to talk to me all the time. In the front I can make it seem like I don't take it seriously and still get killer grades. That's Popular 101 - Never make it look like you're trying too hard.

That was one of the first things I had to work with Ivory on. She thought that with a name like Ivory Brown Wood she had to try extra hard, which was true, but I taught her not to show it. And _maaany_ other things. Ivory has gorgeous blue eyes, flawless caramel blond hair and the perfect nose, which is more than I've got going for me, but with the way she was when she moved here in third grade, I assure you she would've been bullied. Popular is not about looks, or not just about looks. Trust me, I know about popular. Popular doesn't just happen, you have to learn it and earn it and keep it up all the time so that you don't lose it. And if you're at my level there's also much strategy to it. You have to play it well, make sure you think your moves through. It's kinda like Chess, which I'm great at. Not as much as my mom, who's a total killer and taught me all I know about it. But I crush my dad and my brother. Obviously, I don't tell anyone at school about the Chess, that's considered a nerd's thing. Highlight this one: popular is not about how things are, but about how they're viewed.

We were two periods in and so far, ninth grade seemed fine. It was the first day so most of it was introductions, learning what we're gonna learn and special stuff we'll have over the year.

One of the things I'm most waiting for? Prom, obviously! Finally I'm gonna be in a legit high school prom, not some kiddie prom with all the parents and teachers around. Finally I will be having fun instead of constantly watching over my dad, keeping him from talking to any of the kids, and without him keeping me from talking to any of the boys (yeah right, the principal, who was in Hawaii at the time, sent him to check the differences in temperature between each and every spot in the hall).

But getting the details about prom wasn't the most dramatic thing that happened today. _So_ not, like, by far.

It was when we got time to go learn about the clubs and other extracurricular activities the school has. They had these kinda booths for everything, spread around the hallways. My friends and I were hanging around, when I noticed someone approach me.

"Halley, hi," he passed by Ivory, who was standing to my right, and stood in front of me, with a cute crooked smile. _Bryce Almada._ He was one of the kids who went to other elementary and middle schools, not of the 'Grit' chain, and joined here for high school. The rumor that he was coming spread by the end of the summer, when one of the girls in my previous class met him in a summer camp. Many of us already knew who he was because in the 'Altadena One Intention Fan Club' there were girls who went to school with him and told us how he looked a bit like Bruno Ballio (that was before Bruno left the band ). He does look kinda like him, he's half Brazilian too so he has that tan skin. He also had honey-brown eyes and his voice had already changed completely and was _hot._ I thanked my lucky stars this morning, when I found out we were together in homeroom and Math.

"Yeah?" I asked, casually. Although my stupid friends were ruining it, smiling and giggling.

"Uh… I saw you in class and you seem like, cool, and I thought I better ask you out soon before everybody else in school does…" he said, with a smile that showed his perfect teeth.

I smiled at him, "I'll think about that."

After we got away from him we did a silent squeal.

"So how long are you gonna keep him waiting?" Britney asked.

"Yeah, when are you gonna run into his arms, look into his dreamy eyes and say 'Take me you bronze latino god'?" Taylor asked, dramatic as always, which made us all giggle.

"As I said, I have to think about it," I answered.

"Yeah, she has to think about it," Jemma said in a 'like duh!' tone.

"What do you have to think about? I know you should think every move but that's _Bryce Almada!_ How's that gonna hurt your popularity? You'll be the power couple of Grit High! No, of all Grit!" Ivory said.

"There's always something to think about," I simply said and continued walking.

"Yeah, there's always something to think about," Jemma said.

Every move has so many consequences, and things can go in many different ways.

Ivory's right that we could be a serious power couple. Bryce and I. We would probably be prom queen and king, even though there will be sophomores. Plus, I haven't had a boyfriend in more than a year. I can't get away much longer with saying I'm waiting for the boys to grow up and be mature enough for me.

But what if we break up? That's a big risk. Although I have managed to play my previous break ups well.

First there was Daniel, my first boyfriend, fifth grade. We went out three times before he asked me to be his girlfriend. We went out the next week and then two weeks after that, after he finally answered my texts. He then kept answering late and like barely hung out with me at school, but he still was more popular than he was before because he was my boyfriend. So I dumped him. I told everyone he was boring. He wasn't all that popular so they believed me.

Then in sixth grade some boys asked me out, and I eventually chose Jin. He was nice but wouldn't shut up about his Kung Fu fighting and was busy with that all the time. I don't know why he even asked me out if he didn't have the time. I dumped him and said whoever is with me should be able to make enough effort for me. I used that to refuse others that year.

At about the end of seventh grade I had a project with Miguel and got to know him better. When we finished it he asked me out to a Latin dance party for kids. We had a great time, but the week after that he went to Argentina for the summer. We became a thing in eighth grade. We met about every week in the first two months but then he said he had private soccer practices and we didn't have much time to meet anymore, and we went down to twice a month. He also started telling me to get to the point in my stories, and sometimes flat out said that they were boring. I tried learning about soccer to be more interesting to him but he kept correcting me and laughing at my mistakes. We went to some of these dance parties and things were okay there, until one time I caught him bragging to his friends there about how popular his girlfriend was. I dumped him on the spot. Two weeks later his dad got a job in New York and they moved away that summer. I used that and told everyone he made that up and was moving because he couldn't get over me. That left my status intact.

But… my heart wasn't left intact. I thought we had something. But he just used me. I said I wanted the boys to mature, but the truth is, I didn't go out with anyone since then because I didn't feel ready. My mom knew about Miguel (I never tell my dad about my boyfriends) and said I made good decisions, both with dumping him and taking time out of dating. So did Aunt Penny. Aunt Anaya, who's Uncle Raj's wife, said I should wait for my Prince to come, and that I'll just know it when he does. Aunt Amy said sometimes it takes long but it's worth it (although I sure hope I won't end up with someone like her husband, Uncle Sheldon, he's hard work).

So it wasn't just popularity stuff I had to think of with Bryce. How do I know if I can trust him? How do I know if he's worth it? If I'm worth it for him? Will he love me? For real? Like those couples who stay married for life? Or at least for decades? Like the guy who's the girl's Endgame in a TV show? That they may take a lot of time to get together and have ups and downs but they reunite in the end and are together and happy for good? Like Michael loves Riley?

All these thoughts came rushing in as soon as I got away from my friends to go to the bathroom (but mostly to have time to think). But they were interrupted as fast as they came when I overheard some of the boys in my grade talking, before I took the turn on my way from the bathroom to the cafeteria.

"So Paul, the moment you see a seventh grader getting near the fence behind their building you do the whistle and we all come out of our hiding places and push him there. We'll play 'catch' with the kid as our ball for a while, then leave him to run away all dizzy, and that's when we start egging him," I heard Joe Peterson say.

"Yeah, we'll show them who the real freshmen are!" Alex Smith Simmons said.

As I walked by, seeing Paul Berg-Wells and Mario Lee there too, they immediately stopped talking. But there was no doubt there, those jerks were gonna bully some poor seventh graders who did nothing to deserve it. Among them would be my brother, I was sure, that was the place from which he was going to talk to his Juliette.

That threw me off when I came back to the cafeteria.

"Halley, are you alright?" Ivory asked.

Then I heard Britney yelling at someone, "Hey, what are you looking at?!" she then smirked, "finally got your braces off so now you're wearing it on your pants?"

I looked up and saw she was talking to Berta Hanson, a girl who was with us from elementary and was always unpopular. She has a weird helmet haircut, is somewhat overweight, has big hideous red glasses, is very quirky and reads paper books all day. She was wearing plaid pants, navy blue and white, and a black shirt.

"Hey Brit," I said sharply,

Everyone near us jumped a bit and looked at me.

"What did she do to you?"

Brit was silent.

"What did she do to anyone else? What did she do to deserve this? What does this do for you?"

Britney didn't have an answer to any of these.

"Umm.." Jemma raised her hand, "Nothing?"

"Her clothes may be totally hideous," I started. Some snickered, but I shot them a glare, and continued after they stopped, "But we don't bully people just like that, we're not a bunch of pathetic 'Mean Girls' from the movies," I set her straight.

After everyone got back to what they were doing, I suddenly had an idea. If I play this well enough, I may "kill two birds with one stone". That's a terrible saying, but you get what I'm saying.

I got up and told my friends I was going to talk to Bryce. They squealed and wished me luck.

"Hi Bryce," I said, smiling, as I approached him. All his friends stared at me.

"Halley! Hi!" he grinned. Damn, he's so hot.

"Can we talk for a minute?"

"Sure, sure," he got up and we went a few steps aside.

"Listen, I'm considering your offer… in a positive way…" I said, playing with my hair.

Bryce looked hopeful.

"But, if you wanna have a chance with me, you're gonna have to show me you're worth it."

"Okay… How do I do that?"

"Do you know Joe Peterson, Paul Berg-Wells, Alex Smith Simmons and Mario Lee? They're in our homeroom."

"I think I saw them going out of the cafeteria a few minutes ago," he said.

"Yes, yes those guys. They're going to bully seventh graders, I'm not sure when, maybe at the next recess, but they're going to do it behind the middle school building, next to the fence. If you stop them, that might show me you're worth it," I batted my eyes and put my hand on his arm.

Bryce looked thoughtful. "Okay, okay. I'll do it," he said after a moment.

"Thank you," I grinned and squeezed his arm for two mississippis, before going back to my friends.

I was nervous for the rest of the school day, but much more when I got home. I usually stall some to get on a different busline than Michael, so he's usually home before me. But when I opened the door the house was quiet and all the windows were closed. I realized immediately he wasn't there.

I dropped my backpack and went to get a cup of water, ending up drinking two because I felt hot. I thought I'd watch something so it would distract me from my pounding heart, but I couldn't make a choice.

You know, I was just nervous because I didn't know if Bryce had passed my test, and I don't like bullying for no reason and, you know, my brother getting hurt, that would hurt my image, so I was nervous. About my image. And Bryce.

It was about 30 minutes later that the door opened and my stupid brother entered.

"Michael!" I jumped off the couch.

"Hey," he said casually, as he dropped his backpack next to mine. He then gave me a weird look and stepped closer to me, "Are you okay? You look kinda pale and flushed."

"Yeah I'm fine, why wouldn't I be? Probably just tired from school and all…you know…" I said quickly, while looking him over for any marks or egg remnants. He didn't smell like eggs so that was a good sign. "Are _you_ tired from school? How was your day? Anything special? Anything special like in a bad way?"

"It was fine, more than fine I guess. I mean it's weird without Riley there but we have cool stuff there," he answered, "Are you sure you're okay?"

I moved a little around him to try to check his sides, "Yeah I'm fine, are _you_ sure you're okay? 'Cause if you're hiding something, like I don't know, bruises or cuts, I'm gonna find out, you're way too stupid to hide stuff from me," I warned, pointing my finger at him.

"What? No, I'm not hiding anything, why are you being so weird?" he frowned.

" _I'm_ being weird? Why are you home so late?"

"I went after school to fill the forms for the basketball tryouts. And it's not _that_ late."

"You could've written it in the family group," I scoffed. Seeing that he didn't have any marks that I could see, didn't seem to be in a bad mood and didn't seem to be lying, I let go and flopped back on the couch, and took a deep, calming breath.

"Oh something a little weird did happen," he said and came to sit next to me.

I turned to him quickly.

"There was this guy, I think he's from the high, who was walking away from behind our building in the last recess with some other guys. He asked if I was Wolowitz, and then said it looks like we're gonna be seeing each other some, and then he fist-bumped me. That was weird," he said.

I smiled, "Yeah, that does sound weird. Hey, did you get to see Little Miss Know It All?"

He sighed, "She's not a know it all. And yes, I did," he grinned.

"Good," I smiled, nodding. "Now get off the couch and let me watch 'Teen Wereleader', I gotta re-watch the best Scarlett and James episodes. They say there's gonna be a big Scarlems moment in the next season's premiere."


	8. What if

_**A/N: Not chapter time actually, because I'm preparing this in advance, to try and post withut my computer when this is due. So hi there, future people! You've already seen the first two episodes of season 12, hope they were good.**_

 _ **This one is Sophie's first POV chapter. She's young, but Stephen already had one at eight soI thought she was due. Remember that the style and language of each chapter is affected by the character taht tells the story. Some of them may make some language mistakes.**_

 ** _Thank you very much to all who read, follow, favorited and review. I enjoy reading whatever thought comes to your minds when reading so just write it up, even if it is for an earlier chapter (I'm supposed to be able to respond, don't need my computer for that). Special thanks to my dear beta reader joyteach._**

 ** _The Big Bang Theory belongs to Lorre and Prady. I only own my OCs, which I recently realized are actually more than 7 because there are some "minor" ones. I also own to some extent this story's Halley and Michael._**

 _ **So there's that for my first time capsule, the second one was for my new Lenny one-shot (which is also set in Corollary world).**_

* * *

 **Chapter 8: What if**

 _September, 2030._

 _[Sophie.]_

"What? No, the roses are supposed to be on the table by the entrance," I heard my mom say from upstairs. She sounded angry. "Yes, all of them. Tanya is supposed to hand them out to the guests when they come in." I guessed she was on the phone because I didn't hear any responses, even when I started to climb the stairs. "Nothing, nothing goes on the tables in the main room," she said, upset, "I don't care if they look bare, they're supposed to be quickly folded and put aside as soon as the lecture begins, to show everyone how adjustable the place is." She sighed. "Holly, please, we've been over this. I will be there in a couple of hours, until then just do everything as we planned it."

Holly is the secretary of the Hofstadter Fund. That's a place my parents were opening this evening where they will have lectures and activities all about science.

Mom has been nervous about the opening for the last few days, growing more nervous as today approached. That's why I was surprised that she was home when I got back. She worked from home for a few months, but since her office was finished she's been working there and she usually gets out a little before my four-year-old brother Max (who we call Maxi) finishes preschool. And I also thought today she would just be there until we had to prepare and go to the opening event.

I put my backpack in its place and peeked through the door of my parents' office room where she was, trying not to interrupt in case she was busy.

I tried to be quiet but she turned around immediately and smiled at me and opened her arms to tell me to come and hug her. But I could tell she was nervous.

"Hey, Princess," she said as she hugged me tight, "I didn't notice you come in, did I? I'm sorry, I guess I was too focused on my call." She gave me a kiss on my forehead but it was longer than usual which was another sign she was upset.

"I just got home, a couple of minutes ago," I answered, "Mommy, is there something wrong with the fund?" I asked.

"Oh no baby, there's just a lot to handle since it's a big day, you know? There will be many important people at the opening today, people who we want to impress, so that they'll bring people to our lectures and activities, or donate money to the fund. As we told you, we will only be charging very little or nothing at all. We have to make donors like what we do so we can keep doing it." She sighed, "Maybe we do need to decorate the tables? But that would mean it would take much more time to put them away. They are colorful…but these are important and rich people, they might have high standards, I don't know what these kinds of people are expecting…. What do you think, Princess? Should we decorate?"

I wanted to help but I didn't know what to say. What if those people want to see that the tables are easy to put away, and if it takes time they will think the fund doesn't work well and it will be awkward? But what if they want everything to be decorated? But how do they want it decorated? What if they don't like roses? And what if mom chose one way and then the people would argue with each other on whether it should or shouldn't be this way? What if there's not enough people to put the tables away quickly? I can't pick up tables…I can try but I'm too small and I probably won't be able to move it, I can move a rose but what if I drop it and everybody's gonna look at me? And then they'll think I can't do anything because I can't even handle a rose and they'll all talk about it and laugh?

"I..I don't know" I answered. I didn't have an answer and I didn't want to make her more nervous with my thoughts.

Mom smiled this kind of sad smile and hugged me, "Your daddy was probably right telling me to stay home until it's closer to the opening, I need to charge before I go all-in." She passed her hand over my hair, "He'll be at the fund in half an hour and we'll switch in about two hours. You, Riley and Maxi will go to the fund with him and the Cooper-Fowlers about an hour and a half before everything starts. Do you wanna wear your new dress, the white one with the pink dots?"

"I could wear it with my pink glasses and shoes and my pink hairband with the star!" I grinned. I love dressing up nicely.

"Aww that would be adorable," Mom said, "That would be something everybody there would like for sure," she smiled.

I could feel my heart beating faster and myself a little lightheaded. I tried not to think about it ever since Mom and Dad told us about the opening event. All the people there looking at me. I always get very very nervous with people I don't know too much. I get hot and lightheaded and I blush sometimes and if they ask me something I sometimes take a lot of time to answer them because I don't know what they want me to say and I don't know what they don't want me to say. What if I say something wrong? What if they get mad? Or hurt? What if they think I'm weird? Or don't like me? Or laugh at me? And then when I don't answer it's awkward and embarrassing. And when I do answer sometimes they can't hear me because it comes out too quiet.

And these people are so important. We need them so Mom and Dad can do the fund! What if I don't answer and then they'll think I'm dumb, or disrespectful? Maybe Riley, my big sister who's 11, would talk to them, and my parents too, and Maxi a little, and that will cover for me? But then they might think 'What's wrong with her'? And what if my family is busy and no one will talk for me? What if I mess up so bad that the important people will not want to donate and bring people to the fund?

I couldn't stop thinking of all that all the time before the opening. Except when Dad prepared Uncle Sheldon, who is our neighbor and one of the Cooper-Fowlers, for the event. Riley, who had come back from her friend, Miranda's (whose nickname is Randi) house, called me to watch because it was funny, especially when Uncle Sheldon acted like a little kid.

"I support the efforts to reduce the ignorance epidemic," Uncle Sheldon said.

"No," Dad said in a tired tone. He was sitting on the couch on the left side of our living room, with Uncle Sheldon standing in front of him.

"I support the battling of ignorance."

"No, Sheldon, nothing about ignorance."

"But why? It is what you're trying to do. I doubt how effective that will be, but you already told me not to mention that," Uncle Sheldon protested.

"Sheldon, we are trying to teach important and useful science material to the general population, making this knowledge accessible and applicable. By this we also hope to encourage people to show more interest in science, and maybe help some who have been discouraged, or not encouraged enough, to pursue it, to find that they can and may enjoy doing so," Dad explained.

"Alright," Uncle Sheldon sighed dramatically, "I support teaching science"

"Okay..?" Dad said.

"To poor uneducated minds."

"No."

"To the victims of the American education system."

"No."

"Surfer dudes and hillbillies?"

"No!" Daddy was aghast.

"Church-nuts and Hippies."

"Sheldon!"

"What? I've been trying to get through to my mother for years, maybe you could do it. She does tend to listen to you, which is baffling, given that she has her little ray of sunshine to follow," Uncle Sheldon responded.

"You're a little ray of something, that's for sure," Dad rolled his eyes. "Look, Sheldon, just say you support the goals of the fund, and don't say anything more than that. You can phrase these goals however you want in your mind."

"You know, for someone who is supposedly trying to contribute to American society, you seem to be suspiciously comfortable with limiting freedom of speech," Uncle Sheldon crossed his hands.

"That's okay, Sheldon, I am sure American society will be just fine with limiting your freedom of speech," Dad stood up and patted Uncle Sheldon's back. "Look, buddy, we appreciate your wanting to help with the fund. Just, please, try to watch your step. This is very important to Penny and me. If you're unsure whether you should say something or not, run it by Amy first. If she's not around, just keep it to yourself – better safe than sorry."

"That is a poor idiom Leonard, as those states are not exclusive of each other. One time my brother invited his whole school to a party at our house, when my parents and Mee-Maw were away. He said he would make me wear his filthy football jersey if I didn't 'keep it to myself'. There were dozens of drunk, hormonal high schoolers, twice my size, partying in our house. They would have surely crushed me to death without even noticing, if I hadn't hidden in my parents' closet. I was both unsafe and sorry that evening. Although, I did have a good nap, resting on the shoulder pads of my mother's blouse I was using as a blanket."

We went to get ready shortly after that, and then went to the fund, sharing a transport line with the Cooper-Fowlers. Daddy still had to go over some conduct rules with Uncle Sheldon. Aunt Amy was telling Maxi and hers and Uncle Sheldon's 4-year-old daughter Elizabeth (who everyone calls Lizzie) the story of how a robotic arm she and Uncle Howard worked on ended up chasing Uncle Howard all around Caltech (where they, Uncle Sheldon, Uncle Raj and my dad work). It's one of the funniest Uncle Howard mess-up stories. Stephen, who turned 9 last week, was looking out the window as he does most times on drives.

I was looking at my dress, at a dot I found to be smaller than the rest. I didn't notice it at first, but now it seemed so noticeable.

"Sissy, are you alright?" Riley asked. She was sitting next to me.

I looked at her, "That dot is definitely smaller. It looks weird," I said, worried.

She took a look. "I can't see the difference. But it's not about that, right?"

I sighed.

"Sophie it will be fine, you will be fine, you can do it," she smiled, "Think that it's a visit to Nebraska and Nana and Papa are showing us off to all their friends, it's not that fun but you get over it if you just smile, tell them your name if they ask, and let the grownups brag about you."

"But Mom says these are very important people."

"And Aunt Candice says every new boyfriend she has is very important. And then there's a new one in the next or the second-next visit," Riley shrugged, "Besides, you're a very important person too."

"I am? Why?"

"Because you're awesome, no matter what those people think or say," she smiled and kissed me on the cheek.

We got to the fund and started helping with setting things up and decorating, with the rest of the families that form our "gang" joining a bit later: the Wolowitzes – Uncle Howard, Aunt Bernadette, Halley (who's 13 but close to 14) and Michael (who's 12 and Riley's BFF), and the Koothrappalis – Uncle Raj, Aunt Anaya and Dakota (whose nickname is Kotie and is 7).

I kept looking at Michael, who was talking to Trevor, the logistics manager of the fund. He didn't know him before but he spoke to him and joked with him so easily. He never has trouble talking to people he doesn't know.

After he finished talking to Trevor, Michael came next to me.

"Hey Soph," he smiled at me.

"I'm sorry," I said quickly.

"For what?" he frowned.

"I thought it annoyed you that I looked at you when you talked to Trevor. I didn't mean it."

"I didn't even notice, but you can look at me as much as you want, we don't wanna have this much style going to waste," he smiled and posed like a cool guy, with his hands tugging at the collar of his green shirt, that was indeed very nice.

I laughed a little.

"Riley just told me you were nervous, so I wanted to.. I dunno, support you," he shrugged, "You know, 'cause you're kinda like a little sister to me."

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah, sure," he smiled.

I I played with my fingers when I gathered the courage to ask, "Umm Michael, can you tell me how you get along so well with people?"

"Umm..well, you just have to play along with them, people go for that," he answered.

"How do you do that?"

"I dunno," he shrugged, "You just go with them, like if they say their opinion you agree with them, or if you really don't want to agree you say something that makes them think you agree but is really vague, like 'Got it', or 'Interesting', or 'That's something', or you just nod. And if they talk about something they like, you listen, and you pretend to be into it even if you're not. And laugh at their jokes and make jokes that go with theirs."

I was confused.

"Here, pretend I'm a donor or something," he said, and then in a funny voice and an English accent, "I am lord Donatello Donorson of Nor..tin..shire. It's nice to meet you, young lady," he offered his hand.

I shook it gently, "Umm.. Hi, I'm Sophie."

"Sophie, oh what a lovely name. I have a horse with that name leading my carriage," he kept with the voice.

I looked at him.

"Come on," Michael whispered with his normal voice, "play along, say something about horses, your grandparents have horses in Nebraska."

"But I'm afraid of riding them, what if he finds out and thinks I'm weird?"

"Then don't tell him that, play around it."

"But what if he picks up on that?"

"What are you guys doing?" Halley suddenly asked, coming next to us.

"I'm training Sophie to talk to people," Michael said.

"Oh it should be easy for you," Halley said to me, "You don't need to make a big effort thinking of what you're gonna say, you're adorable, you need to play at this and the rest doesn't matter that much."

"How do I do that?" I asked, looking at her.

"Just like that."

"Like what?"

"You know, what you're doing, with the eyes."

I was about to ask what she meant by that but then Kotie joined the conversation, "My Daddy says that it's all about what you're transmitting. If you want people to like you, you should like yourself. Be a princess from within to be a princess from without. It's kinda like what my mummy says but with sass and attitude instead of inner peace and serenity."

I got more confused than I already was. Do something with my eyes, be sassy and serene inside and say unclear things? That sounded like Rafiki, the monkey from 'Lion King', and he was alone painting with fruit most of the time!

But then it was time to go into the main room. Mom wanted all of the gang to be inside before the guests came in so there wouldn't be too many people at the entrance. We were also not allowed to use or move anything and had to be quiet, so Riley, Michael, Stephen, Kotie and I played a story continuation game. We started in the 'Powerpuff' world but Stephen kept insisting they weren't real superheroes because his dad says so, so Riley allowed him to add The Flash and make up stuff only for time Michael said that The Flash almost crushed the girls (because he is so much bigger and so fast). It was very funny.

Then, after all the guests came in, it was time for speeches.

Daddy went first and he told stories of how he learned about science and physics as a kid and that he built stuff to make up for things he didn't have (he said those who have met his mother may guess what some of these were, I couldn't), and how he wanted to make things like on 'Star Trek' and how he grew up and studied and learned all the things he could use science for, like heating noodles in seconds. That was funny. I'd heard these stories but it was still interesting and I think the important people liked it, and they laughed at Daddy's jokes. Daddy said he wanted other people to find out all the wonders science has to offer. Everybody applauded him after that. It is so amazing that my parents are doing this.

Then it was Mommy's turn. Dad said he wouldn't have thought of the fund and couldn't have done this without her and that she is the real force behind all of this. Then he handed her the microphone. I saw that she was nervous, she is usually very good at talking to other people but I think she was worried because she didn't know what the important people were like.

She started talking about things everybody uses that were made out of scientific discoveries and how we don't realize how much science is involved in our lives and how it can help people in their lives. She also talked about projects that helped underprivileged populations (that means poor people) study science and how some of them got into it and they got good jobs and contributed to the scientific community with their work. It was interesting but I felt like the people there weren't very interested and that maybe they already knew that.

Then she stopped for a moment. "But, you know, I'll be honest with you. That is not what got me into this whole fund thing."

Everybody seemed curious about what she said now. So were Riley and I.

"I mean, I kind of knew some of this stuff, but it's not what made me do this," she said." You know, while Leonard here grew up in a house of scientists, spending his time in fancy schools and hanging around in the universities his parents worked at, I grew up in a small farm somewhere outside of Omaha, Nebraska, where students tried to make the principal make Beer-Pong part of PE."

Some people laughed and so did Mommy. "True story," she said. She seemed to be calming down.

"I knew that science was this important thing, that the brilliant, important people did. It was 'not for me'. Not science, not school. I was taught that I should not bother with those things. I was supposed to focus on.. other things. My sister even taught me to play ignorant in order to get..those things."

"Hey! How come she's allowed to use that word?" Uncle Sheldon suddenly asked out loud.

"Sheldon!" Aunt Amy nudged him, and then smiled at the people, embarrassed.

Mom rolled her eyes. "Anyway," she said, a little annoyed, "Because of this, growing up, I avoided anything that had to do with science."

"That is terrible!" Riley whispered to me. I agreed, it did sound terrible, I can't imagine being told not to learn stuff, not to study, not to read papers, watch lectures and experiments, not to make experiments and not to build stuff with Riley. These are most of my favorite things to do, I can't imagine how my life would be without them. Mommy doesn't know too much about science and she doesn't always get what we're doing and she always makes jokes about how much smarter we are than her, but she never told us all of that. We were really surprised.

"When I came to California, almost 18, science was for me kind of like something that is separate from me and my life. It was kind of like those colors or sounds that humans can't grasp. They're there, some animals get them, but for us it's like they don't exist. Then I met my husband and our friends," she looked at Daddy for a moment, smiling, and then back to the audience, "Being with them was at first incredibly confusing. I was the only one with no science knowledge in a group of 5, and later 7. At times it felt like being alone in a foreign country, where everybody is talking a different language. I couldn't, for the life of me, make sense of most of what they were saying."

I saw Mommy and Daddy laughing a little at each other at that.

"But I could see how passionate they were about it and how big a part it played in their lives. Feeling that none of it was for me and that I just could not understand any of it, I wasn't that keen to learn. But being around them all the time, it was impossible not to catch some stuff on the way. So, little, by little, by very little, I did learn some things. I did see how their work could help people in many ways. And eventually, I did find myself using some of the stuff. Like when I was pregnant, you know how they say one thing in one place and the opposite in another, or like the day after that? You should eat that! No, you shouldn't! This is very healthy to do! No, it's dangerous!"

Mommy made this very funny and everyone laughed.

"I was confused by all of that. Then, I remembered what Leonard taught me about searching for research papers, how to know which I should trust and which parts to focus on. I admit, I went a little over the top with it, I probably read twice the amount I did my whole life. But I could figure out what would be best for my kids and myself, based on the most advanced knowledge there was at the time. Although I think they turned out great regardless of that," she smiled and looked at us.

That made people look at us. I tried hiding behind Riley, but not too much so they didn't think I was weird because I was hiding. I think I also blushed.

Luckily, Mom continued, "So the real reason I'm opening this science fund, me, the girl who 'wasn't supposed to have anything to do with science', is to make science everybody's thing. I'm not saying everyone has to dedicate their lives to science, or do any work that has to do with science. I mean, don't think I'm that big on science. I'm still confused by most of it, even after promoting Caltech for years. But I believe everybody can learn and make use of some of the wonderful discoveries talented people, like my husband and our friends, make all the time. We are opening this fund to make this happen, and so that no one would be told science is not for them."

At that Mommy finished her speech. Everybody applauded and cheered because it was really amazing.

There were three donors who spoke after that and then there was the lecture, from a professor who studied the history of access to scientific knowledge and discoveries in western countries. It was interesting, but I wasn't focused in some parts of the speeches and lecture because I kept thinking about how amazing my mommy was. She was nervous but then she relaxed and she just talked about herself and told the important people about her life and it was much better and everybody liked it.

I thought maybe I should try this too. So when this older woman asked me if I liked science, I decided to try talking to her. "I like chemistry and physics and biology and psychology a little, more neuropsychology," I said. It came out quickly and I couldn't stop playing with my hair and my heart was beating fast.

But she did hear it and I felt my family looking at me and saw Riley smiling at me and felt Mommy and Daddy caress me, Mommy my face and Daddy from my shoulders to my arms.

"Wow!" the woman said, "How do you even know all of those exist?" she asked.

Now I didn't know what to say. I thought, what if she thinks it's weird I know that? What if she thinks I'm lying? What if I tell her I read papers and books and watch lectures my parents allow me to watch and I visit Caltech and see what the researchers do there, and she thinks it is wrong like Aunt Candice says Mom should make us do what normal kids do instead? But Mom gets mad at her for that and so do Nana and Papa and then they fight over this. But what if the woman and my parents fight over this?

Luckily for me, Uncle Raj got everybody's attention just then, when he announced he and his family made something special for the event. They went up on the small stage in the entrance room where we were and they started singing and dancing a rap song they made up for the fund. I heard Mom say they were so focused on Sheldon, they forgot the rest of their weirdos.

I remember there was something in the song about how fund-amental science was and how fund-tastic the fund will be and how it will be so much fun-d. But I don't remember most of it, because I went to hide behind Doctor Kibbler, who's really big.


	9. A part

_**A/N: Chapter time! [Originally there were extra exclamation marks, due to left-over excitement from the return of "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" (!), but interestingly, the site automatically deletes them and leaves one.]**_

 _ **On-time A/N this time.**_

 _ **I enjoy writing this story and characters so I'm sticking to it, even though it is now very AU. I also like recommending fics I enjoy, so today's recommendation: "The Smart and Beautiful Baby Actualization" by 123justafan.**_

 _ **This is another long chapter, but the next one is shorter :D**_

 _ **Thanks to all who read, folllow, favorited and reviewed. I enjoy your every review so very much, just write whatever thought/s you have when reading. Special thanks to my dear beta reader joyteach.**_

 _ **I definitely do not own The Big Bang Theory. Just this group of 7 OCs and to some extent this story's Halley and Michael. Open to lending them, PM.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 9: A part**

 _November, 2030._

 _[Anaya.]_

Work for it. That is my motto in life. Work for what you want, do whatever you can to achieve it. Don't give up.

That's why I wasn't going to give in to that evil closet door which just wouldn't close entirely. Two cushions, that's all I put in there, that weren't there on a regular basis. Two small cushions. At first, I just threw them in and pushed the door behind me, without giving it a thought. I turned to walk away and then heard that little squeak that indicated the door had opened. That little squeak of the slowly, slightly opening door. The little annoying bastard of a squeak that I have heard dozens of times after that, no matter what stuff I moved around in the closet, no matter how I tried to push it. Or kick it. Or slam it, punch it, head-butt it, and yell at it.

Today was the first time we would host Thanksgiving dinner for our friends, "the gang", and I was ready to work my ass off to make the perfect celebration.

We would usually celebrate with my family, and were supposed to this year, but the raging storm in New York ruined our plans. My older sister, who lives there, just had a baby. My parents, who live near us, had traveled there last week, right after she gave birth. One of my younger brothers, who lives in Riverside, had gotten there with his family a day after that. We were supposed to fly there two days ago, but the day before the storm started, and all flights had been canceled.

We were quickly invited to the gang's dinner, that was supposed to be at the Wolowitzes' this year. Then I had the idea to make it special and throw an Indian themed celebration. Since our apartment is quite small for all of us, I invited everybody to the Indian heritage center I run, which was, obviously, closed to visitors for the holidays.

"Oh dear," Sheldon sighed and shook his head, turning to me, "Anaya, I believe you have the wrong kind of Indians in mind."

"Sheldon, I believe I have the 'right kind' of Indian at heart. I know you have that certain way you think Thanksgiving should be celebrated, but I just think it'll be a great opportunity to share my culture, _our_ culture, with you guys," I answered.

"We've already changed from take out to your home-made Indian food, we went to _three_ of your meditation classes, and took that trip to the National Museum of the American Indian five years ago, what more do you want?" he complained, " _And_ , I do not _think_ Thanksgiving should be celebrated in a certain way, I _know_ the right way of celebrating it."

"Sheldon, we are going to have Thanksgiving Anaya's way," his wife, Amy, determined.

"But Amy-" he tried to protest, but she gave him a look over her glasses, raising her eyebrows with her lips pressed tightly.

"Darn it," he groaned.

Amy and I smiled at each other.

I wasn't surprised by any of that. This is Sheldon, I'm sorry, _Doctor_ Sheldon Cooper. Insisting on doing things a certain way, _his_ way, thinking it's the best for some odd reasons, is his thing. Making his weird plans, creating his traditions, that's his part in the gang. Well, that and freaking out about strange things, lecturing us on random stuff, and being one of the most arrogant people I know. He's the gang's 'Wackadoodle', as Penny told me, when I first met the Cooper-Fowlers and Hofstadters. He does mean well though, kind of. And his unbelievable memory and his ideas are very helpful at times.

My husband, Raj, wanted me to meet Sheldon long after I met the rest of the gang.

Oh, I forgot to mention, they were all Raj's friends. They were a tight-knit group of 7 adults, 2 babies (the Wolowitzes') and one on the way (the Hofstadters'). Everyone but Raj was married, but they were still very close and very important to him. To be honest, it was intimidating. Coming into such a well-established group, that already had its dynamics well set. It sure didn't help that Raj kept saying how important it was for him that I got along with them, and that he fantasized about me becoming best friends with all the women, and the two of us having a wonderful time at their Girls' Nights, which he was, and still is, an occasional part of.

So Raj planned my meetings with his friends carefully. It was smart of him to plan for Sheldon to be the last one meeting me, but that didn't work out. I met him shortly after I met Leonard and Penny, the Hofstadters, when he barged into the apartment they were living in at the time. Sheldon and Amy lived in the apartment across the hall from Leonard and Penny. Now they live in houses, sharing a fence. Leonard and Penny's tolerance is truly near-divine. It may not be that obvious at first glance, but when you really get to know the gang, you realize Leonard and Penny are kind of the care-takers there. Sure, others would help. Sure, Leonard and Penny may complain about it, those two do not lack snark. But they will help a friend in need, even if it is a very demanding task, even if it is at their expense.

Anyway, Sheldon barged in to rant about Penny eating his cereal in a pregnancy craving bout. Amy, who knew about my meeting with the Hofstadters, tried, but couldn't stop him. Then, he noticed me and started an interrogation. They were telling me a bit about Sheldon before he entered, so I knew I shouldn't take him too seriously, but it was uncomfortable.

Leonard asked him to be nice to their new friend, but Sheldon said they should be careful with letting in Raj's dates, as he was "highly likely to scare them off", which meant "any information revealed to the disgruntled woman could be publicized in an act of revenge". Raj bowed his head, looking like he wanted the ground to swallow him.

When I told Sheldon I wouldn't perform any act of revenge, as Karma would come and get me, it became even worse. Sheldon was shocked, and started asking if I believed in a long list of super-natural creatures and phenomena. Some I did believe in, some I did not, some were complete nonsense I'd never heard of. He did not seem happy about it.

At some point Penny got mad at him and told him to shut his pie hole, or she would shut it for him. While that did have an effect, I couldn't leave it at that. I told him my beliefs made me who I am, just like his made him who he was, and that I would not change them just because it didn't fit him, just like I wouldn't ask him to change his beliefs.

He looked at me silently for a moment, and then said "Very well," nodded, and walked away, calling for Amy to come with him and let us continue with our meeting.

Raj, Leonard, Penny, Amy and I were surprised by that and were worried about what would happen next. Surprisingly, it turned out he actually respected that. From this day on Sheldon and I have been under kind of an "agree to disagree" understanding.

Amy setting Sheldon straight about Thanksgiving dinner wasn't a surprise either. That is one of her parts in the gang. According to the girls, it took time for her to acquire that skill. Leonard and Penny are also able to affect Sheldon, but they're more like the negotiators, either for the gang or for people outside of it.

So the Sheldon issues were worked out, and the gang seemed excited about our dinner.

Raj and our seven-year-old, Dakota, were even, I'd say, too excited. They wanted to buy Saris and various Indian-themed accessories for everybody to wear, and planned to perform five songs.

After a long discussion, I've managed to stop Raj from buying anything. I do not like spending money when it's not necessary. I suppose it is a result of growing up in a poor family where everybody had to work hard to keep the family warm, fed and healthy. Raj and I do make certainly more than is necessary to grant our family basic living conditions, and to maintain and improve the center. Still, you never know. I also don't want Kotie to become spoiled. She doesn't lack anything anyway, because Raj finds amazing things for her, that look just like luxurious products, in his top-secret bazaars. They're so secret he can't even tell me anything about them, and they're so good that no one believes these are not true designer products. Raj says only the greatest experts, that we will never meet, can tell the difference.

I didn't have the heart to cut on the songs, though. They were really clever! They were gratitude-themed songs, with changed lyrics, to fit the occasion. There was "What a Wonderful Multi-Cultural World", "Thank you for the Bollywood Music", "A Rupee of Gratitude"… Raj is so good at themed events! Unfortunately, there was so much to take care of, that I couldn't participate. While Raj is Indian, and unlike me, was even born in India, and is a great cook, he is lousy cooking Indian food. Go figure.

"Naya, I need your help," I heard my brother shouting from the kitchen.

Uh-oh, I thought.

My youngest brother, Anik, was supposed to fly to New York with us, so just like us, he remained in Pasadena. We have, obviously, invited him to join us for Thanksgiving.

But the thing about Anik is, he's "particular". Not the Sheldon kind of particular, kind of the other way around. While Sheldon's ideas, as crazy as they may be, are reasoned, as crazy as his reasons may be, Anik comes up with the strangest ideas just like that, and just goes with whatever pops up in his head. He constantly changes his passions, hoping to cash big from his idea of the week. He is truly a chill, happy-go-lucky guy.

Being the youngest, 12 years younger than me and 8 years younger than my other brother, Anik had quite a different childhood from my siblings and me. He didn't experience as much adversity as the rest of us. By the time he was eleven, my siblings and I had left home, most of us managing to get a workplace where we could sleep, or afford a small place of our own. So, he didn't have the experience of living in a house way too small for its inhabitants. As we all started working at a young age, he also grew up in a better economic state. Still poor, but not as much. And because he is the youngest, everybody is more forgiving toward him. He is 35, working in a country club while taking community college classes for about 9 years already, always thinking he's a minute from creating a revolution with whatever it is at the moment. He's just..Anik.

And Anik's particular ideas do not end in his "start-up" and invention ideas. Whenever you let him do something, anything, you should know he will come up with some idea and mess that up. So I wasn't keen on him helping with dinner, to say the least. But he said he wanted to work for it, and that it would be a gesture of true gratitude to us and to our friends. I could not refuse that. As particular as he is, he does know how to get you on his side.

"What? What is it? Did you burn anything? Break? Spill?" I asked as I rushed to the kitchen.

"No, but I can't find a plate big enough for the samosa mountain," he answered.

I exhaled in relief, "The big plates are on the top shelf of the left-end cabinet," I answered, and he turned to get them. "Wait, samosa mountain?!"

"Yeah," he turned back and grinned at me, "There are so many, I thought it would be cool to have them piled up in the shape of a mountain, add a show factor to it."

At least it wasn't that bad of an idea this time, I thought, and he didn't mess anything up, yet. "That is a nice idea, Niki, but I think it would be more comfortable for people to get them if they're piled up in a regular way. Anyway, you don't need a big plate for that, four medium ones, two for the spicy ones and two for the non-spicy ones would be just fine."

"Spicy and non-spicy?" he looked puzzled.

"Yeah," I smirked, "Most of the gang can't handle anything too spicy, and by that I mean what for us is just noticeable, so I made a non-spicy kind. The ones in the red box."

"Ohhh so that's why they had slightly different colors," he nodded.

"Yeah…but.. you weren't supposed to see that, you had no reason to look at them," I said, now starting to worry.

"Uhhm yeah… I just… Well… I was curious to see what you'd already made so I took a glance, and then when I saw the little differences between the samosas, I thought they would look good mixed up. So I mixed them up. Then I thought, hey, samosa mountain," he smiled nervously.

"You mixed them up?!" I opened the fridge and sure enough, there were different kinds of samosas in each of the two boxes. I could tell the difference looking at them closely, but I was quite sure our friends would easily mix them up, resulting in redness, sweating, coughing, tearing up, screaming, all these weird reactions Caucasian Americans have to spicy foods. And that's all just based on Howard. "Anik!' I groaned.

"Sorry," he said, regretful.

"Everything okay here?" Raj came through the door.

"Not really," I sighed, "We need to separate the spicy and non-spicy samosas."

"And then make samosa mountains," Anik added.

I was about to correct him, but Raj started, "Samosa mountains? That's a great idea!" he said with excitement.

Raj is about the only person that gets excited about Anik's ideas. And sure, Anik's ideas are mostly nonsense, but one of the things that made me fall for Raj was how well he got along with my curious little brother. It was Anik who gave Raj the leaflet that advertised the lecture we met at, so I believe he was one of the reasons the gods brought us together. I thought Raj would not be as accepting of Anik once he found out he was 24, and not 15 like he looked at the time, but he kept treating him the same, no matter what silliness Anik came up with. For the first time I didn't feel the need to make either Anik, or anyone else in my family, behave for a guy I dated.

Later on, I found out that coincided with Raj's part in the gang. Everybody in the gang has the things they're excited and enthusiastic about. But the variety of things Raj is enthusiastic about is great. Themed parties, rom-coms, skin care, fantasy fiction, board games, pop idols, mystery dinners, teen TV dramas, divas… there's just so much. Whatever the topic of the conversation is, you can probably count on Raj to get excited about it. He's also the greatest party planner of the group and always the entertainer. In my first months with the gang, Bernadette told me to try and see through these things, which I really didn't understand, as I fell more in love with him because of them.

"Hey, spicy samosa volcano!" Anik said.

"Dude!" Raj exclaimed.

"Alright, you can arrange the samosas any way you want, but we need to sort them out," I relented.

"Don't worry Choco-Pop, my man Anik and I will take care of it," Raj said and kissed my cheek.

Anik nodded.

"That would be great. Have you finished rehearsing with Kotie?"

"Sure did, we're gonna sizzle like Vin Deisel!" he announced, then added, "but in 'Fast and Furious', not 'Babylon A.D'."

"Sure you will," I smiled. "What is she doing now?"

"Just playing with her dolls, again with the bestie princesses who rule Cotton Candy kingdom together."

"Alright, thank you, my Caraman," I gave him a quick kiss and went back to the big room.

After a rather intense fight with the closet door, it finally seemed to remain closed. Unfortunately, I spent quite a lot of time on it, and had to hurry up working on the rest of the decorations and setting the table. That task wasn't made any easier with Ginger, our Maltese dog, running around me. She's usually a calm dog, but she gets spiced up (hehe) when she realizes a special event may soon happen. So I sent Ginger to the kitchen. I didn't have any idea how much I was going to regret this later.

Then it was that time. If you've ever hosted a big enough dinner, you know the 10 minutes before the guests come in are usually the most stressful. Food that has already been cooked should be re-heated, and food that has just finished cooking should be kept warm. Salads should be seasoned, cold drinks and dishes should be brought to the table.

The center's kitchen is much bigger than ours, but still, I was expecting to work hard to find room in the oven and on the stove for all of the food. I wasn't expecting what I found when I entered the kitchen.

Raj and Anik had already sorted and re-heated the samosas, and were now piling them up as mountains on four plates. Two of these had paprika spilling out from them, making them into volcanos. Apparently, though, this was not the first "lava" they attempted. The floor had all kinds of edible reds on it: Ketchup, tomato sauce, and what I assumed was jam. Kotie was spinning around in the kitchen, enjoying the way her sari spun around her. And there, in the corner, I noticed what made Kotie scream the moment her eyes landed on it. Our snow-white Ginger now looked like one of the colorful Hindu god posters we had on the walls.

"Ginger! What happened to you?!" Kotie knelt beside her. I shrieked, fearing her festive silky purple sari would be ruined, but she figured that out and quickly put an apron and gloves on. Raj always tells her to be careful with her clothes, especially those from the secret bazaars.

"Holly cow!" Raj shouted.

Anik got closer, knelt, passed his fingers through Ginger's dirty fur and then licked whatever was there off them. "Mmm. Chili," he said, licking the red stuff, "Curry," licking the yellow, "dried Ginger', the light brown, "and these are Curry leaves. Yes, these are all of the spices I used for the adventure naan. She was probably walking around when I made it," he shrugged, stood up and went back to the samosas.

"Raj didn't you notice her?" I asked.

"I noticed her when she entered, but I was busy sorting the samosas. I thought she went away," he then turned to Ginger, "Oh my poor little snow queen, you're a circus madam right now."

"It's gonna take hours to get this off her," I groaned. "But the gang will be here in no time. Raj, just take her outside and splash some water over her, so she at least doesn't shed spices all over the place. We'll give her a better wash later."

Raj nodded, told Ginger to go out of the back door and took a big bottle of water and a towel with him.

"Anik, are you done with the samosas?" I asked, turning to him.

"Right..now," he said, after placing the last one.

"Good. Okay, I need you to get the naans and the salads to the table, and spread the trivets on it."

"At your service, sister! Just let me get a special bowl for the adventure naans, so your friends won't melt away. See? Good thinking," he grinned, tapping his left temple with his finger.

"Adventure naan?" Oh dear Annapurna. I was so concerned with Ginger that I hadn't really noticed when he'd said that before.

"Yes, because of the more daring seasoning, with the spices that painted your dog."

"Anik, I told you not to mess with the food!"

"I just wanted to show your friends some of my magic," he said with a sad face.

I sighed. "You know what, just spread them around the table, with this many spices, they will make nice decorations. Now go and arrange the trivets on the table, okay?"

Anik nodded and started on that.

"Mummy, may I help?" Kotie asked, looking up at me hopefully.

"I don't know Kit-Kotie, we have to hurry up and the dishes might be too heavy for you to carry."

"But I'm big enough already! I wanna help! Anik does!"

She did have a point with Anik.

"Fine, let me see…" I started looking for something to give her.

"Yay!" Kotie cheered.

"Here," I put the Aloo Pakora in a bowl and picked it up, turning to Kotie, "Take this to the table."

She nodded, smiling, and reached for it.

"But be careful, okay?" I said as I gave it to her.

"Yes Mummy," she said, and started her journey to the table, a little over a hundred feet away.

It was five minutes to guests' arrival. After finding a place for each of the dishes to heat, I started running back and forth from the kitchen to the dinner table, carrying as many dishes as I could in whatever ways I could, going past the dirty spots on the floor, and almost clashing with Anik every trip. I also had to do some rearranging after every one of his trips.

It almost ended in disaster when Raj and an excited Ginger came back inside, when I was making my way to the table, and when Anik suddenly stepped back to view the table from a distance.

"Ginger!" Raj yelled.

"No Anik!" I yelled.

"Woah!" Anik yelled as he turned, an inch from me.

Fortunately, we had greater forces on our side, and everybody stopped in their tracks at the very last second. Shaken and shocked, we remained in our places for a moment, regaining our breath.

"Made it!" Kotie called.

We turned our heads and saw that she had put the Aloo Pakora bowl in its place.

It was just then that a very familiar knock sounded, the Sheldon Cooper knocking sequence. Precisely on time, as usual.

Three knocks, "Koothrappalis," Sheldon called, three knocks, "Koothrappalis," three knocks, "Koothrappalis."

I approached the door.

Then two knocks sounded, then Stephen, their nine-year-old, announcing, "Cooper-Fowlers, here for Thanksgiving dinner. "That sometimes happens on special occasions.

I reached for the door, when a final, knock, on the lower part of the door, sounded, and then four-year-old Lizzie yelled, "Thanksgiving yay!".

I opened the door and we greeted them.

The rest of the gang came in shortly after that. The Wolowitzes, the Hofstadters, and also Stuart and his wife, Denise, who are like an unofficial part of the gang – they're not always there, but are always welcome.

It was when we started serving the main course that Sheldon's occasional doggie-like half-sighs-half-cries started getting annoying.

"Hey Sheldon, I hear Ginger's got some real good stuff over there," Howard gestured to Ginger's food bowl, "why don't you go join her, boy?" he joked.

Howard's main part in the gang is certainly being the joker. He sometimes goes over the line, and when I first met him and Bernadette, Raj kept kicking him under the table for doing that. That's how my first meeting with people from the gang, Raj's best friend and his wife, ended up in a kicking fight between the two.

And just like Bernadette put a stop to that fight, with a fierce "Knock it off!" that you'd never imagine coming out of such a small, seemingly sweet woman, she stopped the fight that emerged after Howard's joke, the joke that prompted Sheldon to start rambling about all the ways this Thanksgiving dinner was "wrong", leading to a string of tired and annoyed responses from others. Amy may be the main Sheldon discipliner, but when you need some more strict, gang-encompassing control, Bernadette is your person.

A moment of silence followed that, and with everything served, we all sat at the table, getting ready to give our thanks.

"Aunt Anaya," Stephen then said.

"Yes?"

"I am paying respect to your culture," he informed, "My mom said one should do that, and that participating in another's cultural habits is one way of doing that. Though I admit, I am a baffled by the way this applies to this dinner. Thanksgiving is a North American, not Indian, tradition, and so an Indian Thanksgiving dinner is neither an Indian cultural habit nor an American one."

"Well, thank you dear," I answered with a smile, then turned to the rest,"Alright, who is ready to give thanks?"

That went on pretty much "normally", as much as you can get with the gang. People gave thanks for their families, friends, their jobs, achievements, and going through challenges successfully.

Howard, again the joker, also gave thanks for the Fetch Tech 3.0 (the closet technology fetches contents by itself) that makes it harder for Bernie to hide his video games. His son, twelve-year-old Michael, followed suit, by giving thanks for his Literature teacher getting sprayed by a skunk, which meant several free periods. Sheldon had a long list of thanks, and notes for improvement, on many topics, from work, to household machines, to sci-fi, to comic-books, to styling changes in some science journals. Amy later giving thanks for all that is her husband made me thank silently the gods that brought these two together. Both Leonard and Penny made sure to express their gratitude for everyone's help with the new fund they had recently opened. Both their daughters went on with quite a lot, not wanting to forget anything.

I ended my thanks with what was especially important for me at that moment, looking around all the wonderful people I had as guests today, "And I am grateful with all my heart and soul for all of you, my dear friends, for welcoming me into your loving group, where everything was already at a certain balance, in place, and everybody already had their part, and making me truly feel a part."

"But, Aunt Anaya," Stephen furrowed his eyebrows, "You _are_ a part of the gang, you always were."

I guess to him I was.

"On the other hand, Uncle Stuart and Denise…" he started, but was cut off by his mother telling him that was not the time for that.

As we ate, I couldn't help looking around every now and then. This group is truly unique, and sure, things may get chaotic at times, and at times ridiculous, but I am proud to be a part of it. I was humbled and at peace. Not even the squeak of the closet door opening again could throw me off at that moment.

I had Raj take care of that.


	10. By my side

_**A/N: Chapter time :)**_

 _ **This one's shorter then the previous ones. I'm trying to make them shorter, so that I don't exahust you, but most times they end up longer than I thought. Part of it is due to many of the chapters being kind of their own story, "stand-alon-ish", part of it is because some unexpected stuff gets in when I write, like the Koothrappali fund rap ^^**_

 _ **I know I always write this, but I am genuinely greatful for all who read, follow, favorited, review. Write up whatever comes to mind, even if you're reading a chapter a long time after it was originally published, I enjoy reviews very much :)  
Special thanks to my great beta reader joyteach.**_

 _ **I don't own The Big Bang Theory. Or NASA. Or Google. Just my 7 OCs, and kinda sorta this story's Michael and Halley (who doesn't look like Churchill).**_

* * *

 **Chapter 10: By my side**

 _January, 2031._

 _[Riley.]_

"Riley… Riley!" Hiroshi called me.

"Huh? What?" I responded, surprised. I wasn't paying attention.

"It's your turn," he said, nodding toward my cards.

"Oh, umm.." I looked at my cards. We were playing "Squirrel Squad". "Stinky Feet Squirrel," I said, as I put the card on top of the pile, over "Karaoke Squirrel" that I guess was played by Irene, who'd had her turn before me. I thought I would win this round but it turned out that Thomas had played "Foot Fetish Squirrel" before, meaning "Stinky Feet" was neutralized.

"Riley, are you alright?" Randi asked me.

"Yes, yes I'm fine," I answered.

"You just seem to be very distracted…" she said, "you've been distracted all day, actually."

"More like all week," Thomas said.

"I'm fine," I shrugged. I could see that they didn't buy it, but they let it go.

They were right, I was distracted. And for the same reason that had me spending this recess with them in the first place. I was supposed to meet Michael by the fence between our schools (because he's in middle school now), as we do every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. But he'd texted me earlier that he wouldn't make it. I would have been fine with it if it were just this one-time thing, but that was the second time this week, and the third the last two weeks, and the seventh since the beginning of the year. By that I mean school year.

It's just that lately he's become part of this kind of new friend group with kids in his grade. It was him, his friends Jackson and Ramzi, another boy they got to know recently (Ned) and four girls (Trish, Jess, Heidi and Yolanda). Heidi and Jackson became girlfriend-boyfriend, and Ned and Jess are cousins, and that brought the others closer, until they became this group. Now they hang out together a lot. They are together at lunch and many times at recess, they go to each other's houses, they go to hang out at the small clothes shopping center (Michael says the girls make them do it, but I know he loves clothes shopping), they go to the interactive movie theater. Three of the girls are also cheerleaders so they're always there when Michael and Jackson have basketball games. The other kids sit together watching. Last time they called Michael when he talked to his parents and me after the game, and they all went out for smoothies. Uncle Howard was so thrilled. He loves it that Michael is hanging out with those kids, especially the girls. He keeps asking Michael if he "got" one of them already. He also asks him about "getting" any girl but more about these girls and other cheerleaders.

I'm happy for Michael. I'm his best friend, of course I'm happy for him. Why wouldn't I be? He seems to really like hanging out with them, and I think he really likes being part of the group. And they are kinda like him, they are like kinda popular but not in a mean way, and these girls, and also Ramzi a little, like all that clothes shopping and dressing up stuff that he likes (that's more like torture if you ask me).

It's just… just… I don't know. I don't like it that we miss our recess meetings, and that sometimes when I want to meet him I can't because he's with them. He asked me some times if it were okay and said that he could skip their meetings but I never told him to do that. I don't want him to miss out and risk being taken out of the group or anything. So I didn't hurt his position in the group or anything, but… It bothers me. Ugh… okay, sometimes I kinda hate it. But I don't say it! And I'm happy for him. But I kinda hate it, some times. Am I a terrible friend for feeling this way?

I tried staying focused for the rest of the game, but that didn't last long, 'cause a few minutes later I was taken out of the game again, this time not by my thoughts.

"Pseudo-sister! Pseudo-sister!" Tivo called, running to the table my friends and I were sitting at. He seemed upset. That wouldn't be unusual, there are many things that upset Tivo and many times he turns to me to solve them.

"Whassup, Pseudo-mister?" I tried lightening the mood.

He just furrowed.

I sighed and smiled, "What's going on, Tivo?"

Now he sighed, "Riley, I told you, I am okay with 'Tivo' as long as it is in the context of a personal or 'gang' meeting," he started, not forgetting air quotes, "Otherwise, it is Stephen."

"Yeah… No," I said.

"Alright…" he scoffed. "Back to the matter in hand, I need your urgent help. A malicious cat has taken possession of my spot and will not leave."

"Which spot?" I asked, he has so many. There's his classroom spot, his cafeteria spot, his comic-book reading spot, his first floor hallway spot, his second floor hallway spot, his ball game observation spot, his group chit-chat observation spot, his I'm-open-to-conversation library spot, his do-not-disturb library spot…

"My second recess playground spot, of course," he looked at me as if I were crazy for asking.

"Sure, sure. Have you tried to make it go away?" I asked.

"I tried telepathic communication, assertive glance, assertive stance, loud, yet not provocative steps forward, all from merely 40 feet away. I'm telling you, this cat is determined to conquer my spot. I need your help, please," he said, giving me a pleading look at the end.

That was certainly not how I wanted to spend my recess. But I looked at his face, upset, helpless, pleading. I knew if I didn't do anything his aide (who his family refers to as assistant), Zoe, may get involved, but they prefer her as little involved as possible.

"Fine," I sighed and got up. "Sorry guys, see you later," I said to my friends. They were fine with it, they're used to this.

Of course, the malicious occupier was the cutest little ginger kitten.

"Okay," Tivo whispered, "here's the plan. You'll approach it, slowly but surely, while I cover you from here, repeating that it must leave, in order to mentally weaken him. Remember, assertive body language and slow pace, no need to be a hero."

As soon as he finished I walked in the cat's direction, normally. He or she just went away as soon as I got closer.

At least this took my mind away from Michael for a bit.

At home, Maxi had a friend come over, Kevin. They were running all around the house playing with toy planes, and later pretending to be prehistoric animals trying to survive an ice age. The latter was Baby Bro's idea. He was both the cutest and the most accident-prone prehistoric animal, knocking off pillows, tissue boxes, paper books, and whatever else was in his way. Good thing we don't keep anything fragile within his reach. My parents had a lot of work looking after them.

Sophie and I had a Professor Proton marathon, I thought it would cheer me up. After 4 episodes Sophie decided to go to her room to make a new bid bracelet, but I didn't feel like doing anything so I put on another episode.

"Hey Cub," Mom said, coming downstairs. She was breathing a little heavily, probably from chasing after Maxi and Kevin. "How's it going?" she asked, coming to sit next to me. I could hear worry in her voice.

I snapped out of my thoughts and looked up at her, "Umm fine, just watching Professor Proton," I nodded to the screen, noticing then that it was back on the episode list.

"Really? Doesn't seem like you are…" she said, "What's wrong, baby?"

"Nothing, I'm fine," I answered, "Just gotta put a new one…" I said, turning to do that.

"Riley…" Mom stopped me.

"What? I'm fine," I shrugged, looking ahead. I admit it came out a bit angry. Mom can sense something's wrong even when I don't show any signs, so now I didn't have a chance to get out of this.

"Aren't you supposed to be doing that model thing with Michael today? If you're so fine, how come you're not preparing for it? You always make sure to arrange everything before he gets here," she pointed out. She meant the model we planned to build of an action potential in a neuron, last week I saw a video where they made one.

"What's the point?" I shrugged, sulking and still looking ahead, "I don't even know if he's coming." Okay, I totally turned myself in this time.

I glanced at her, without moving my head. I could see her furrowing a little.

"Has anything happened between you two?"

"No," I looked down, "But he's been hanging with his friends all the time, I don't think he has time for me anymore."

Mom now got that I was sad and hugged me. "Hey… I'm sure this is not true, Michael always has time for you."

"Not really. He keeps cancelling our recess meetings and we've been spending less and less time together lately," I said, my voice becoming weaker. I took a breath, "Mommy, I don't wanna get in his way with this gang, but I… I…"

"You can tell me, baby."

"I hate it. I really really hate it. I'm a terrible friend."

"Oh, Cub, you're certainly not!" she tried to comfort me.

"Yes I am. I should just be happy for him. I mean I am happy for him, but I'm also not. It's just… We're BFFs, we've always been, so I always thought he would always be there for me, by my side, you know, forever. And now he's busy with his friends, and the smoothies, and clothes shopping with these girls…"

"And you want to fling your poop at them?" she suddenly asked.

"What?!" I asked, leaning back from the hug, looking at her, totally puzzled.

She shook her head quickly, seeming to be snapping out of something, "Never mind." She then looked at me, and put her left hand on my right cheek. After a moment of silence, she smiled this sympathetic smile. "Cub, I get that. It's scary, when there's a big change between you and a person you want to keep by your side. But I _know_ you and Michael will make it. You may have to make some changes along the way, see each other or talk to each other less, but I know you will always be there for each other. You guys are a team, always have been, always will be. You know, we used to think it would be nice if our kids become friends, but we never imagined how close you'd be. I mean, you guys loved being with each other even when you still couldn't talk much or really play together, we kept speculating about what was going on in your little toddler world but could never understand it," she said, chuckling and caressing my cheek.

"I know!" we heard Maxi shouting upstairs, "Let's make a cave to keep us safe and warm! I'll look for big metal stuff so it is imprer..i..imper-mea..-ble, you make 10 or 20 or 30 cups of cocoa to keep us warm!"

Mom and I looked toward the stairs, concerned.

"I'm on it!" we heard Daddy yell, and were relieved.

We turned to each other again, "Just talk to him, Cub, make it clear. I'm sure you guys will figure it out."

"Figure what out?" I suddenly heard Michael's voice, he was just coming through the door (I gave him a key so he can come in whenever he wants), "Is someone bothering you, Riles?" he looked at my face and seemed to get more worried and started to talk fast, "You look sad, are you sad? If someone's making you sad I'm gonna..have a talk with them, like a serious talk!" he nodded, determined.

Mom smiled at me and caressed my cheek as she got up, "I'm gonna leave you guys to it." She passed her hand over Michael's head and then went upstairs.

Michael came to sit next to me, but I couldn't look at him. Mom told me to talk to him about it, but I felt like I couldn't. I just looked straight and said, dryly, "We need to get all the material for the model out, I didn't get to it."

"Oh okay," he said, I heard surprise in his voice.

"It's not that hard, you know, and it's technically part of building a model."

"Yes, I know," he answered, sounding like he didn't know what was going on.

I felt kind of angry, and I just spilled it, "I just didn't want to have to put everything back," I shrugged.

"Okay we both know you won't do that anyway," he pointed out. Yeah… he was right about that. I don't clean up much… I just never feel like it. He continued, "but why would you have to put everything back?"

"I don't know, what if you didn't show up?" I asked, glancing at him but only turning my head a little.

"What? Why wouldn't I show up?" he asked, looking confused.

I took a breath and looked down, "I dunno…What if your friends went clothes shopping?"

He paused for a moment. "Riles, do you have a problem with me hanging out with them? Because if you do, I told you, I don't mind turning them down, any time," he said, leaning to try to look at my face. "Well, for you any time, now for my dad and his juggling classes…" he joked.

I usually laugh at his jokes, but I wasn't in the mood. I sighed, still looking down. "No, you shouldn't turn them down. They're your people… I'm gonna be fine. I'm okay with you having fun with them. Just… I just… I don't wanna lose you," I confessed, turning my head to look up at him.

"You won't, Riles I swear! So what if they're 'my people'? You're… You're my person, but like, more than them, like my special person… You're my BFF, always by each other's side, you know? But like, for real, not like you're just someone's BFF because you're really good friends but like special BFF…" he looked thoughtful, "Super-friend?... Life companion? Uh I don't know what to call it, but…"

"Michael," I said, getting his attention, to show that I got him. I grinned, "Let's go make a neuron fire."


	11. Included

_**A/N: Chapter time :)**_

 _ **And also times to remind of a few things, like how ASD is very heterogenous and "if you met a person with ASD, you met a person with ASD"; how ASD is a part of the whole that people are; and how Stephen here is his own characters, not just a kid with ASD and how one should not conclude anything from him to any certain kid with ASD; and also, how what the characters say or think represent their own views, and there is no "voice of truth" here.**_

 _ **Thank you so much to all who read, review, follow, favorited. Please, wite up whatever comes to mind when you read, even if it's been a long time after the chapter was published, I love reading your thoughts. Special thanks, as always, to my beta joyteach.**_

 _ **The Big Bang Theory is clearly not mine, otherwise some things obviously would have gone differently. It belongs to Lorre and Prady, what an amazing achievement they've made (12 seasons, that's just crazy!). My 7 OCs, to some extent these Michael and Halley, and all the minor characters that did not appear on TBBT are mine.**_

 ** _On a side note: The next chapter may be a bit late than usual (two weeks from now). Ask me how writing shorter chapters is going... Yeah, Nope. ^^_**

* * *

 **Chapter 11: Included**

 _February, 2031._

 _[Stephen.]_

The week of February 16th to February 22nd was quite an eventful week.

Sunday was mostly dedicated to the filming of a special new episode of "Fun with Flags: Into the Wool".

In case you are not familiar with "Fun with Flags: Into the Wool" or the entire "Fun with Flags" franchise, I will here provide a brief description. This will not, in any way, serve as a substitute for watching it yourselves, which you should do, by all means, to gain invaluable flag knowledge. That is, unless you are vexillology experts at the top of your field. In that case, I figuratively bow to you in honor.

"Fun with Flags" is a web-based franchise, which consists of a website, an application for small devices, and two series, rife with vexillogical knowledge. The primary series is named "Sheldon Cooper and the Cooper-Fowler Family present Fun with Flags" and includes fascinating episodes, presenting a vast variety of topics. "Fun with Flags: Into the Wool", named cleverly to reference the material originally most frequently used to make flags, delves into the making of flags. The franchise was created and is operated by my family, led by my father, who is the main host of the primary series. However, and partly due to my father's tendency to stab himself while weaving, my mother is the host, instructor and head-weaver of "Into the Wool".

This week's episode depicted the weaving of the flag of Seychelles, which features five colors. It was decided that the process would be shown from beginning to end, no cuts, no speeding up the video, nor any other video trickery. I was in charge of presenting the relevant wool balls to my mother. My father was in charge of filming and inspecting the weaving. My sister was tasked with bringing us water when asked. If she had a task that required her to remain focused the whole four hours, she would be unable to fulfil it. She has a ridiculously short attention span, even though she is already four years and eleven months old. Two weeks and three days ago we were watching a brand-new video from the National New York Central Railroad Museum, that details the components of each and every train, and after an hour, merely a third of the video, Elizabeth (henceforth 'Lizzie') claimed she was bored. Unbelievable.

Aunt Penny was also participating in this episode. As I understand, there has been some exchange of favors, involving late-night laundry and a confidentiality agreement. She was entrusted with holding threads for my mother when needed, and mostly, as my mother said, to "light up the screen with her enchanting presence".

One minute before shooting time, my family members and I were all set in our positions, when Aunt Penny came through the door that joins our backyard to hers, saying, "Alright, let's get it over with."

My father seemed as if he was going to say something to her, but after my mother gave him a look he started counting down to shooting.

"Greetings fellow flag enthusiasts!" my mother said as the camera started recording. " _Wool_ you like to have some fun with us today?" she asked as she raised her right fist to show enthusiasm. These kinds of questions are habitual in television, even though they are rhetorical. "Well you are in luck," she continued, "because today we are going to show you the weaving of the marvelous flag of Seychelles, all the way from a bunch of threads to a full-flag wonder," she, my father and I chuckled at the word-game, "that will turn your heads!"

That was my father's cue to operate the sound effect of cheering people. We waited, smiling but not moving for a second, for him to do so. Aunt Penny just looked at us and at the camera without smiling. Someone should teach her the secrets of show business, like my parents taught me.

"As you can see, today we have with us our recurring special guest, my very own bestie, Penny Hofstadter!" my mother introduced Aunt Penny, who then smiled and waved.

"Sheldon!" my mother whispered, "cheering!"

"I don't think she deser-" he started saying. "Alright, aright," he sighed and turned on the artificial cheers.

A mere 15 minutes after the weaving started, Aunt Penny asked, whispering, "Hey, Ames, when's the break?"

"What break?" my mother whispered back.

"Umm bathroom break, snack break, whatever..?" Penny whispered back.

"We are not taking any breaks, Penny, our viewers are here to watch the full process of weaving a flag, not you emptying half a bag of chips straight into your mouth," my mother whispered through her teeth, smiling.

Aunt Penny smiled and whispered through her teeth as well, "Hey that was just one time! And what's the deal? Just cut it when you edit."

"There's no editing, one take from beginning to end, it's the real deal here," my mother whispered.

"What?!" Aunt Penny said loudly.

They both quickly smiled at the camera for a moment.

Penny then again turned to my mother and whispered through her teeth, "You didn't tell me that! Who does that?!"

"Who forgets to do laundry for a month?!" my mother whispered back.

Penny hushed her, then sighed, leaning back in her chair, "What have I gotten myself into?" she asked, shaking her head.

Two minutes later, Aunt Penny was fast asleep. Falling asleep in the middle of a joint activity in which one is not expected to sleep would be considered disrespectful in many cases. However, Aunt Penny says sleeping is one of her most beloved hobbies. And she is fairly good at it. It may be that she was in fact sharing her hobby with us and our viewers, which could indicate a desire to contribute, however ill expressed. Poor Aunt Penny, she doesn't have a good grasp of what people want to see.

Penny's falling asleep did not cause too much of an interference in the weaving, as my mother found ways to place the threads on and beneath her. Four hours later, the flag was finally finished.

"Aaand that's it folks! There you have the flagtastic flag of Seychelles!" my mother said as she picked up the flag and showed it to the camera.

My father turned on the cheering effect again. He, Lizzie and I joined the frame to wave and smile at the camera.

"Penny! Look alive!" my mother gritted through her smile and poked Aunt Penny with her elbow.

Penny suddenly woke up, "Wh..What? Who? How?" she looked at us and slowly joined the smiling and waving, turning to the camera.

Monday went along much according to routine. I had oatmeal for breakfast and wore my third Monday of the month (winter day) shirt, a long-sleeved blue Jedi t-shirt, with the complementary dark blue slacks and black loafers. I studied ninth grade biology when the rest of the class had their Science class, ninth grade History when they had History, and tenth grade Math when they had Math. To my great dismay, I am required to participate in Gymnastics. I do not understand the need for me to participate in these classes, and neither does my father. It would clearly be more beneficial for me to learn more STEM subjects, so that by the time I graduate from high school I would be able to build myself robotic legs and arms to fit my needs, which I predict will be minimal anyway.

In the last period I was asked to deviate from my routine. My teacher, Ms. Morgan, said she would like me to participate in a Social Studies class, as she would be giving instructions for a group project she would like me to participate in. I said that I chose not to, but she said it was a requirement. I do not understand why she keeps confusing "would like" with "require". Things would be much easier if people used the correct words to describe their requests or orders.

The project was about the current debate in Congress about the developing identity recognition technology, which will allow for quick recognition of a person's identity and the provision of brief details about them. Every group was tasked with presenting the different arguments made about a certain aspect of the technology. I was unhappy. This was a redundant project about a redundant debate, but I was under requirement.

After giving the instructions, Ms. Morgan required us to divide into groups of four to five students. This time she did not use "would like". Good for her.

As the other students approached one another, I approached Ms. Morgan to ask her to assign me to a group. I always find myself without a group and have the teacher assign me to one, so I decided it would be better to skip to the end of this process.

Ms. Morgan, however, was particularly whimsical this day, which I did not appreciate. She turned to the class and said, "I see two students who have not found a group yet,"

That was when I noticed Andrey Kozoriz, the new student from Ukraine who joined our class this year, had also not found a group.

"You guys are old enough to be able to set groups by yourselves. Which group, or groups, will be accepting your friends, Stephen and Andrey?" Ms. Morgan asked.

After some quiet whispering among the students considering accepting us into their groups, Naomi Meier-Caspe spoke for her group, telling Ms. Morgan we could join their group. They were a group of four, but Ms. Morgan approved.

This made the very first time I was invited into a group, other than one that consisted of our family friends, instead of being assigned by a teacher. I felt happy. I told my mother and father about it later that day. My mother was happy, she told me that, and she smiled and said, "Way to go".

My father said, "Of course they would want you in their group, you're far superior to them intellectually." He did not smile. I don't know what he was feeling.

The first half of Tuesday was, blissfully, nothing out of the ordinary. I wore my third Tuesday of the month (cold winter day) Hulk-green sweater, with the complementary black slacks and purple loafers. I had an omelet for breakfast. At school, I studied ninth grade English, History and Literature when the other students studied the same subjects at their level. Brussels sprouts were served at lunch, as every Tuesday. I hate Brussels sprouts, and could smell their terrible odor even before entering the cafeteria, but every terrible experience is nonetheless better when it is a regular event.

At 4 PM I had a group meeting, to work on the project, at Nate Jones' house. I was pleasantly surprised that the group wanted to work together, instead of playing while I did all the work myself, like it had been in previous group projects I was involved in. Instead, they let me search for certain arguments, while Blake, Dean, Naomi and Wendy searched for the rest of what was needed. Andrey was assigned to designing our slides.

I concluded it was both a fruitful and fun meeting. Blake, Dean, Naomi and Wendy had made various comments that were intended as humor and made them laugh. I believe I was partly unsuccessful at grasping the humor, as the comments did not make me laugh, so when they laughed I joined in and acknowledged the comments were humorous. Whenever that happened, they looked at me and then got back to work. Andrey, on the other hand, asked for clarifications various times, due to language difficulties. I gave him explanations, but in some of the times one of the other children said it wasn't what the speaker meant and concluded with "never mind", a phrase that serves to ask others to go back to their previous occupations.

I shared my conclusions with my mother, telling her that I was included in fun team work. I felt happy, and hopeful. While I find interacting with other people challenging, I enjoy the feeling of belonging to a group and being considered a friend.

My mother said she was proud and excited for me. "Friends are awesome! They can teach you how to interact better with others, show you all the movies you've got to know, and give you the courage to embrace your wild side and lose one, or even two cardigans!" she said, "But I suggest you take your time before you buy any of them a painting to celebrate your bond, this may cause tension, because the others might get jealous."

Wednesday would have been a great day, completely uneventful, if it weren't for the utter silliness Riley spoke to me.

As every Wednesday night, we were at the Pasadena Comic Center with our fathers, Sophie, Michael, Uncle Howard and Uncle Raj. It is one of the places that both sell paper comic books and fantasy and sci-fi games and figurines, and have gallery rooms where one can read original comic books from the 20th century, making it one of the best places in the world. It is owned by Stuart, who is a friend of our parents.

After we'd put on our gloves and watched the usual instruction video, explaining the correct way to leaf through the books without damaging them, I walked to "The Flash" area with my father. We finished issues #246 and #247. My father went on to read issue #248, but I decided to join Riley and Michael who were looking at "Justice League" issues from "the satellite years".

Itold Riley and Michael about my time working on the group project. They were quiet after I finished. I assumed they were processing the information.

"My mom said it was great," I said, trying to help them through it, "I have new friends and I am included in a group."

"Umm… yeah, you were..in the group," Riley said, slowly.

"You should be happy for me," I explained.

"Yes, I.. I am happy that you found a group and that they don't take advantage of you and don't laugh at you. It is nice of them. But…" she sighed, "Tivo, it kinda sounds like those kids took you into their group out of pity, you and the other kid, Andrey was it?"

"Okay," I said, "then why did you use the word 'but'? It is supposed to indicate contrast."

"Sweetie, them being with you out of pity is not a good thing, I mean.. It is good in some way, but, it doesn't sound like they really want to be your friends and really include you," she said. She had a sad face.

I was confused by her criticism. "I am part of the group, I am included, you can ask Ms. Morgan! And, I was invited to work with the group and I took part in the activity!" I protested.

"I know, Sweetie, but it's not genuine, you said they were all working together while the two of you were working alone, and that they made jokes that you didn't understand… Did anybody explain to you the things you didn't understand?"

"I explained to Andrey the things he did not understand, and the others pointed out when I was wrong. They used 'never mind', and I understood the phrase for its rhetorical meaning and went back to work. That is team work."

She sighed and kept the sad face.

"Why is your face sad? Stop it with the sad face!" I was getting angry at her illogical behavior.

"Riles, let it go, just let him have this," Michael told her, quietly, apparently forgetting I had Vulcan hearing.

"But it's pity, Michael, it's not real," she retorted.

"What is wrong with pity? Pity is a good moral sentiment, which serves to guide people into helping one another!" I protested.

"Kids, what's going on?" Uncle Leonard asked, as he approached us.

"You are being irrational, I will not take this poppycock!" I declared and turned around to go back to my father's side.

"Tivo…" I heard Riley saying. I could recognize it was her sad tone.

To add to my annoyance, the next day, Thursday, the school held a "Ball Day", meaning every other period I had to argue with another teacher trying to force me to participate in a ball game. While I was informed of it ahead of time, I did not appreciate it and would not participate. If I am to fend spheres off me, I'd rather do it when digitally represented by a disproportionately muscular being, armed with ancient human weapons which would be futile when considered against his own powers.

After school, my work group had another meeting, at Blake Ryan-Scott's house. I tried to get the things Riley said out of my head and focus on my work. I was successful for most of the meeting, until Andrey brought up similar concerns.

It was when Blake, Dean, Naomi and Wendy were laughing loudly, for a long time, at what was apparently a joke. I did not understand what was humorous about it, at all, and decided to confess it to Andrey. I was taught that if I find myself unable to understand certain remarks, I'd better admit it, because that would make others more likely to provide me with explanations. My father says that if I do not understand others' remarks, it is because I am further advanced than they are. But, Aunt Penny told me saying that implies I believe the sun shines from a "very wrong" place, and I certainly do not want to look like a foolish toddler, who does not know the structure of the solar system.

"Is okay, I no understand too," Andrey responded, "Is difficult."

"Understanding jokes?" I asked.

"No what I mean, but yes, too. With no good language, I miss little things," he answered.

"I think you mean nuances. These are hard for me as well, but English is my native language. I miss nuances because I have Autism Spectrum Disorder. It means my brain works differently," I explained.

"Different, but same," Andrey said, smiling.

"I'm sorry, I do not understand."

"You and I both miss nusases, both no understand jokes, both no with group," he explained.

"Yes, I guess we both don't understand the group's jokes," I nodded.

"No, no being in group, no together, alone. Is difficult, no understanding, you no in group," he said. He still had a smile but he was looking down, which might mean he was either sad, nervous or feeling ill.

"I think you mean not included," I responded, "That possibility has been brought to my attention. I do not appreciate that logic," I said. I started feeling sad. Then, thinking about what Andrey had just said, I had an epiphany, "But, if, hypothetically, I accept the conclusion that we both are excluded from this group, then it means we are both included in the figurative social space outside of the group, which is not socially isolated, because we both inhabit it. We are both excluded, hence we are both included! Andrey, that is brilliant reasoning!"

It took Andrey a few seconds to respond. Maybe he was struck by his own brilliance. He then smiled and raised his hand in the way that most times is a request for a 'high-five', "Friend?"

Although I dislike physical touch, I knew that major feats, such as acquiring a friend, sometimes require the hero to make sacrifice. So, I took a breath and gave Andrey a 'high-five', "Friend."


	12. Reserved

_**A/N : It's chapter time again :)**_

 _ **And Thanksgiving!**_ ** _Happy Thanksgiving to all Americans! (If you're in a holiday-mood, chapter 9 takes place at Thanksgiving)_**

 _ **Very special thanks to my beta joyteach who went over this one in time, even though I sent it a few days later than usual and it is the longest one yet (so much for me saying I'll ry to write shorter ones LOL). I'm working on the next one, I hope it'll be on time as well, although it will probably pass this one in terms of length. That is because it could really be its own story, separated to multiple chapters. It is true that the chapters here are generally what I call "stand-alone-ish", but you'll see what I mean when you read the next one.**_

 ** _Thank you so much to all who read, review(ed), follow, favorited. I love reading what you have in mind, so please go ahead and write up whatever comes to mind (hopefully this time there won't be a problem with the site the few days after I post, but even if there is, feel free to review whenever you feel like, either this or previous chapters, I really don't mind late reviews)._**

 ** _Surprise surprise, I still do not own not even a bit of The Big Bang Theory. That belongs to Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady. I only own whatever OC appears in this story, and to a certain extent these versions of Halley and Michael._**

* * *

 **Chapter 12: Reserved**

 _March, 2031._

 _[Michael.]_

Today was the big day, the day of my Bar Mitzvah, the day I became a _man._ Well, a Jewish man. I'm not really sure when I'm becoming a Christian man.

Getting there wasn't too easy. I've been studying my Haftarah for months. That's some sort of a prayer or something, that you read from the Torah on Saturday morning the week of your thirteenth birthday. It is all in Hebrew, and it has the weirdest melody to it. Riley and I haven't decided yet whether it sounds more like a spell, or like an old hobo singing.

But I knew the Haftarah would soon be over, and then I'd be a man and have the big party in the evening. Also, my mom agreed to buy me a special suit for the Haftarah, other than the one I'd be wearing for the party. That was a good enough reason to do it. Not that I had a choice anyway.

I'd just changed to that suit and checked it in the mirror, while starting on my hair. It was a brown striped suit, and had the shine and the smell of a new suit. And with the light blue shirt underneath and the silk dark blue tie Halley chose, it was _majestic._ I felt like a New York businessman who has a treadmill desk in his office. I was loving this Bar Mitzvah already.

"Ooh good Shabbat to ya', my fellow Jewish men," My dad said, in his low voice, as he came into my room. I probably should've jumped at this, but it didn't surprise me, at all. He does that all the time. "Rejoice, and worry, all men, because today you'll be joined by a new Wolowitz man," he continued, coming to stand next to me, "Smooth as an operator, deep like your love, wanted, dead or alive."

'That took a turn,' I thought, furrowing. But then he started messing with my hair.

"Hey! Stop that!" I said and moved my head away, "I was just getting it the way Riley said was fine!"

"Geesh, calm down, Halley!" he mocked me, "It was the same way it always is."

I frowned, "Dad, it's a big day, you said so yourself! I'm becoming a man, and I want to do it with my hair the way Riley said was fine."

"Are you sure she didn't just say that so you could move on to think of your strategy for 'Call of Cootie'? You know she doesn't care about this stuff. Did she roll her eyes?"

"Dad, she always rolls her eyes," I sighed. "Just leave my hair alone, I wanna look good later, when we kick some ass on the 1980's stage! Well, kick some head."

"Relax, you're gonna do fine. No, great. You've got the Wolowitz tall genes! _And_ the Wolowitz charm and charisma. And your nose is even…" he looked at me, "not too bad!"

I looked in the mirror, finishing my hair. I let out a breath, "Yeah," I smiled, "I'm gonna rock this Bar Mitzvah."

"That's my boy!" Dad said, looking at us in the mirror. Then he said in a serious tone, "And son, I believe in you. When it comes, you will pull it off," he nodded.

"What? Manhood?" I asked.

"No, your fully-grown nose."

I looked in the mirror.

"Anyway, champ, I've got something to show you. I've wanted to show you for a few months now, but your mom said I'd better save it for the big day. She said if I showed it too early, it might've turned you against the whole thing, because your old man nailing it could put on some pressure," Dad said.

'It' turned out to be Dad's own Bar Mitzvah. He had a video from the event. If you could call that a video, it had the colors of 100-year-old clothes and the sound of airplane announcements in those old movies from 20 years ago.

And he did not nail it. At all. First, he pulled a magic trick. As he went to his place in the synagogue, he pulled a dove out of his pants. The rabbi did not appreciate it, and there were about ten minutes of chaos after that. But Dad seemed proud when he was looking at that.

Then, he started his Haftarah, but my grandmother, his mom, who died before I was born, kept yelling "LOUDER HOWIE, LOUDER! DODA MIRIAM CAN'T HEAR YOU!". That's until she realized 90-year-old Aunt Miriam had fallen asleep, "Oh, NEVER MIND!" she yelled.

But hearing Dad wasn't all that better. His voice was changing and cracking, it was awkward all the way. Sometimes I envy the boys my age who already have their voices changing, but not today.

Then, when he finished, everybody was throwing candy at him, which sounds nice, but looks like a vicious witch hunt, especially with Dad's aunts, who shot like snipers. "What the hell is that?!" I asked.

"Oh, its just a tradition, throwing candy at the Bar Mitzvah boy," Dad answered, all nonchalant.

"What?! Why didn't you tell me?!"

"Don't worry, I'll protect you."

Yeah… He didn't. At all. In fact, at the moment I finished my Haftarah, he ran down, yelled "Suck it, sucka'!" and started sniping at me himself. It was _nasty._ I was attacked from all directions, and since I counted on my dad, I wasn't ready to hide. And when I finally managed to run outside, after most people got tired or ran out of candy, my dad followed me. That's the problem with an ex-magician dad – he had candy _everywhere._

I finally got outside, with my dad still shooting at me. For the record, Stephen also had candy left and kept shooting at me, but the only thing he managed to hit was his own shoe.

I was looking for shelter, when I heard Riley's voice, "Gulliver! Come here!"

Thank God. I looked around and found her behind a pillar. It turned out there was a path behind it, and we ran there.

We went along all these curvy paths and took all these turns, so we didn't really know where we'd gotten, but we stopped when we thought we'd run enough.

"I think we lost him," Riley said, catching her breath.

I looked around, seeing that we were surrounded by walls and plants. "I think we lost everyone," I chuckled, catching my breath. Well, if I were lost, better be lost with Riley! "Hey, no more school!" I joked, and raised my hand for a high-five.

"Yeah… Not really," she said, and nodded toward something behind me.

I turned and, through a space between two walls, saw the entrance to the synagogue.

We both laughed, until something hit my neck.

"Ow!" I said, rubbing my neck. Looking down, I saw it was a toffee.

I turned around and saw Riley laughing.

"I thought you were on my side!"

"Just a small fee," she shrugged.

"Oh yeah? How 'bout you eat your small fee?" I teased. Riley had recently had braces put on her teeth, and things like toffees were now the stuff of nightmares for her. Last week she ate a marshmallow, and then took 2 hours to remove it from her teeth. It was hilarious. And a little cute.

"Do you want another one?" she asked, crossing her hands and giving me an angry look.

"I think I'll pass," I answered.

"Good," she said, "'cause I don't have any," she chuckled and released her hands.

"Hey runaways!" we suddenly heard. It was Aunt Penny, calling us from between the walls that lead to the synagogue, "Care to turn yourselves in? We've got pizza."

"Sounds like a good deal," I said.

Riley agreed and we went to Aunt Penny.

"How'd you know we were here?" Riley asked her mom, as we all turned toward the synagogue's entrance.

"Please," Aunt Penny answered, "I smelled you," she said, as if it were the most usual thing.

Riley and I looked at each other, weirded out.

"You think she really…?" I quietly asked Riley.

"I wanna say no…" she answered.

After we had some pizza and snacks, everybody went back to their homes.

I had several hours before I had to get ready for the party, so I went over the game plan Riley and I had devised. We'd been working on it for quite some time.

You see, my parents asked me to decide what would be the big attraction of the party – a good DJ, a big hall, a giant candy buffet or a bunch of video games. It was a hard choice, so I consulted Riley. When she found out which games I could choose, she got so excited, which made me excited, so I chose games. The next week we rated the games according to different criteria so we could make our choice. It was tough, but we reached a decision. Then, after the order was made and up until last night, we had worked out the perfect game plan. We'd planned everything so that we would do our best in the games, and get the ideal amount of time playing each and every game. Everything was set, from the main strategy and roles for every game and stage, to the length of the breaks we would take between and within games. I couldn't wait to start!

Time seemed to move slowly, but it was finally time to get ready for the party. I wore my second suit, a dark blue one, with a light purple shirt underneath. I left my jacket open and went with no belt, as this was a party look. Two suits in one day, I love Judaism!

This time my dad did not mess up my hair, he was too busy rehearsing his speech. But that wasn't even a bit of a relief, 'cause every time he said he had to rehearse this speech just made me dread it more.

The place looked awesome, it was big enough to fit all the tables and have enough place for dancing left. But more importantly, it had all the games we ordered, at the exact places we asked that they'd be.

We had quite a lot of guests. Many people from my dad's family flew in, and my mom has a very big family on both sides. There were people from my dad's work, but not from my mom's, she told them it was just for family. In reality, she said she had enough of those idiots at work. And of course, our family friends were there too. I got to invite 30 kids from school, and Halley got 10. Among her "friends" was her boyfriend, Bryce. They've been together for almost half a year now, but Dad doesn't know, she doesn't want him to. She told me shortly after they became boyfriend and girlfriend, but made me swear I wouldn't tell anyone. Except for Riley, Halley said she knew I'd tell her anyway and she didn't care. I kept to my word, but I think my mom has her suspicions.

I was very excited when the guests started showing. I did not enjoy all the cheek pinching from the older aunts, but I soldiered through it. But as time went by, I started getting worried. The Hofstadters were still not there, which was weird, the rest of the gang came in either early or just on time (Uncle Sheldon and Stephen refused to take the last step inside until it was the exact time). I tried to play along and not show it when I greeted the guests, but I guess I didn't do the greatest job. Mom nudged me twice, telling me to smile, and reminding me that that was my time to work my magic on those who hadn't written their checks yet.

Then, it was 15 minutes after the time at which the event was supposed to start. I looked around, hoping against hope that somehow I'd missed them. But no, still no Hofstadters.

"I just got a text from Penny," I suddenly heard my mom say, I didn't even notice she'd come next to me. "She says they had some unexpected setbacks, but they're on their way."

I nodded. At least it seemed that nothing too serious happened. But I was still sad.

My dad then came up to us, rubbing his hands together, "Well, my man, are you ready?" he asked, smiling.

"Ready for what?" I asked.

"For what? For your party! Come on, let's get started!"

"Are you kidding me?!" I snapped at him, "How can we start the party?! Riley is not here! I mean, all the Hofstadters are not here, they're our best friends!" I yelled.

"Easy there, Bridezilla!" he said, putting his hands in front of him in pretend surrender.

Man, he can be such an ass! "You don't understand!" I yelled.

"Hey! Everybody calm down!" My mom ordered. She kept her voice down but it was no less scary than usual. After a few seconds of calming down she turned to me, in her usual sweet, high-pitched voice, "Mikey," she put her hand on my shoulder, "We've waited long enough. We can't keep everyone hanging, we have to start this. We can try to stall it a little, we can call Raj to speak before you. We told him it would be only our family speaking, but I'm pretty sure he's prepared something, in case we cave."

"Sure has, seven pages, front and back," Dad said.

"See? You can always count on that old goofball," Mom smiled at me. "Now come on, you have a speech to make."

I was almost sold on it, until that last part. "No," I said, not yelling this time.

Dad sighed.

"What's the problem now?" Mom asked.

"I can't do it," I answered, giving her a pleading look. I just couldn't, it didn't feel right.

Mom took a breath, "Alright, how about this, we will start the event, the both of us and your sister, and you'll speak later, after the main course is served? And if they're not there by that time, we'll call Uncle Raj and you'll go after him."

I took a moment to think about it. "Fine," I said, sighing. I really hoped Riley would be there soon. And her family.

My parents went to the stage, signaling for Halley to come. Halley looked at me, seeing that I didn't go with them, but to my surprise, she didn't look mad or laugh at me.

Seeing them go, everybody went to their tables. I had a table with my friends, and some other kids I'm kinda friends with. Walking to the table, I saw that some kids had already taken places. They left my seat free, it wasn't hard to figure it was mine because it had a different decoration. But both the seats next to me were taken, meaning Riley's seat was taken.

I cleared my throat to make the girls that were sitting there, Natalie and Jessica, pay attention.

"Oh hey Michael!" Natalie said, smiling to me.

"Hi, Bar-Matza boy!" Jess said playfully.

"This seat is reserved," I told them.

They seemed not to understand, "Uhh which seat?" Jess asked.

"Umm one of them, that one" I nodded toward the seat to my right, where Natalie sat.

"Okay…" Natalie said, with a tone that sent the message that I was being weird. She moved one seat away, with Jess moving next to her. I saw them exchange a look. I didn't care, that seat was reserved.

My friend Ramzi took the seat Jess left, and nudged me with his elbow, making me turn to him.

"Hey man," he whispered, "don't you see you're the man of the evening? That means if you play it right, you could score with one of the hottest girls in school tonight! Even Natalie!"

"Dude, do you even know what 'score' means?" I asked him. You know, right? 'Cause I know… But let's keep it between us, 'cause my mom won't like it.

"Whatever!" he said, I knew he didn't know, "Bro, Natalie, Jess, Lindsey…"

"Yeah right," Ned chuckled, "Be serious dude, he's got no chance with Natalie and definitely not Jess, she's got a good cousin to watch over her," he smirked, him being that cousin, " _Maybe_ Lindsey, Cara probably, but none if he keeps up _that_ attitude. I can't believe you just blew Natalie and Jess off!"

Ramzi and Jackson, another one of our friends, agreed.

"I didn't blow them off, I-" I started, but then my dad's voice sounded through the speakers. It took them some time, but it seemed like they finally got everything working.

"One, two, one two, astronaut Wolowitz reporting for duty," he tested the mic the way he always does. "Can you hear me in the back?" he asked, yelling into the mic.

"Yes!" everybody yelled back, suffering from the volume.

"Alright, everybody ready to get this party started?" he asked.

There was no answer.

"Yes!" he did a lame cheer himself. "So, as you all know, we're gathered here today to celebrate my son's, Neil Michael Wolowitz's, becoming a man. I would like to open this evening with words from the speech my late mother gave at my own Bar-Mitzvah, words that have become engraved in my memory, from the wonderful grandmother my son never got to know," he said, with his voice slightly shaking and, I think, a tear in his eyes.

My mom put a hand on his shoulder, and there was a moment of sad silence. I do wish I'd met Grandma Debbie.

"HOWIE," he started, doing a funny impression, "THE TORAH MIGHT SAY YOU'RE A MAN NOW, BUT YOU'RE STILL MY LITTLE BOY, YOU'RE MAMA'S LITTLE MATZA-BALL AND YOU ALWAYS WILL BE! YOU HEAR THAT EVERYONE?!," he pointed to the girls from my school, "HOWIE'S A MAMA'S BOY! HOWIE'S A MAMA'S BOY!"

Everybody laughed. 'Maybe I was wrong to fear his speech so much', I thought.

"By the way, when I said engraved, I meant scarred," he joked. "But seriously now, Mom," he looked up, "If you're looking at us from up there, you can be proud of this young man here, for he's finally switched his fluffy Elmo slippers for big boy ones!"

And that's when the horror began. You know how the best 'roasts' come from your closest friends? Well, try your own dad. It was one embarrassing story after another, potty training mix-ups, Dora night lights, and that time I thought Mom's spanx were a part of a Dark Spiderman costume. I couldn't look at my friends for most of it. Instead, I looked at Halley, who looked at me with the horrified, pained look you give someone who's falling down an endless staircase, with random spikes spread on them, which was fitting, 'cause that's about how it felt.

"But that aside, folks, my boy Michael has grown to be a great man. He's funny, he's smart, and he's _a friggin' basketball player!_ You hear that, ladies?" he looked at the girls, "He's as fierce as his namesake Neil Armstrong, as smooth as his namesake Neil Diamond, and as imaginative as his namesake Neil Gaiman."

Nice save, Dad.

"Wait, you said you were named after Armstrong, man! Where did the others come from? Hey, wait a minute, isn't Diamond that singer my grandma likes?" Ramzi asked and started, well, kept, laughing.

"My grandma likes Neil Diamond too," Natalie chimed in, "she lets me listen to him," she said, and suddenly put her hand on my arm, leaning closer to me and looking straight at me with her shiny blue eyes, "and I think he's great," she smiled and squeezed my arm a little.

Woah, that was something.

"Re- really?" I asked.

"Yeah, I think-" she started saying, while moving towards Riley's seat.

"That seat's reserved," I said, stopping her.

"Oh, yeah…" she said, backed off and then took her hand off my arm, and started talking to Jess.

"ARE YOU AN IDIOT?!" Ramzi whisper-yelled at me.

Ned face-palmed like five times, and then said, "No, no amount of face-palming is enough for that!"

"The seat is reserved," Jackson huffed, "more like your attitude!"

"Nice, bro!" Ramzi said, fist-bumping Jackson, and the three of them laughed.

Then my mom started her speech. It was okay, nothing surprising, and not too embarrassing. That is, until the end, when she started squeaking something about me being so big and her being so old, and then her voice went dog-only high. It ended with my dad putting a hand on her shoulder, taking the microphone away and leading her off stage, after thanking her and inviting Halley to speak.

Halley kept it short and to the point. Unsurprisingly, she started by saying how everybody says siblings are great and our friends for life, and how she thought that was pure bullshit. There was no need of a microphone to hear my mom's "HALLEY!" after that. Then Halley said I wasn't great, but not too shabby after all, and told some cool stories, for which I mouthed "thank you" to her.

What I didn't get in Halley's speech was the end. She said "So, I guess my brother is fine. Definitely not a man, I tell you that, but he's alright," she then looked at me, "And I guess the people who he needs most to know this aren't here right now, but I think they know,"

I was baffled, who was she talking about?

"You still don't get it, do you?" she said to me. "Stupid brother," she then said, rolling her eyes in an annoyed manner, the only kind of eye-roll she has (as opposed to Riley's fifty-something). That made people laugh. "Anyway, happy birthday, kid."

As Halley finished, the waiters started walking around to get orders. I noticed Christie get up from her table, next to mine, and approach me. That was kind of a shock, they say she only talks to football players. She's definitely one of _the_ hottest girls in my grade. She's a cheerleader and has quite the body, rumor has it she's wearing cup C bras, and her long legs are perfection. She has long auburn hair that looks like silk, hazel eyes, and these cute lips.

"Hi there, Michael," she said, now standing by my table.

"H- Hi, hi Christie, how you doing?" came out shakily, making me want to kick my stupid ass so bad.

"I'm alright, just like I hear you are," she said, smiling.

I felt my face flushing. And she was getting closer.

But then I noticed, she was in Riley's seat. Ugh, stupid me, I totally missed it.

"Umm hey, that seat is.." I started.

"NO!" Ramzi and Ned suddenly yelled, making everybody turn to them.

I turned back to Christie, "Reserved," I said, "but I'm sure Ramzi wouldn't mind giving you his place," I add quickly, smiling at her nervously.

"You're seriously kicking me out of a _chair_?!" she asked, clearly mad and unbelieving.

"No no!" I said quickly, "Just offering you that other chair, 'cause that one's reserved."

"So you're seriously reserving a chair, _over me_ ," she stated angrily.

"Yes he is," I suddenly heard Halley say, "this is his Bar-Mitzvah and he will reserve a seat if he wants to, get over yourself, Donkey-dress."

Damn, I didn't think there was any way of burning Christie, but Halley is a pro. That dress did have a donkey-like color. I couldn't help but snicker, like everyone else, and Christie left, seeming really mad. Halley kept on her way to her table, unfazed.

Yes, I know I blew it again, but I couldn't let her or anyone else sit there! Right next to me, that was Riley's place! Sure, it would be nice to hang at the party with these girls, I mean they're _seriously_ hot, but this was my Bar-Mitzvah, my big night, and all I wanted was to be with Riley.

Thinking about that, I was about to excuse myself for the bathroom, to get away for a little while, when suddenly I heard that voice I know so well, "Michael!"

I looked up and, although she was standing like 30 feet away, I swear I could see her eyes as if she were right in front of me. I could see in her big, beautiful green eyes that she was flustered, exhausted, and sorry.

She ran to me, and the next thing I know, she's kneeling on her chair, hugging me tight, with me hugging her back, grinning. Or, I guess, beaming, 'cause I was beyond happy she was finally there.

I don't think we've hugged each other since we were little, at least not longer than a few seconds, and this hug was way longer than that. It's just not the kind of thing you usually do with your BFF once you're not a little kid anymore. But it wasn't weird or anything. Instead, it was probably one of the best hugs I've had my entire life.

"I'm so sorry!" she started, still breathing a bit quickly. She leaned back and looked me in the eyes, she didn't really have to say it, it was written all over her face. Then, she started talking at like 60 MPH, "We left ahead of time, I swear, I was ready way early and tried to make everyone move, and then Sophie found a bent line on her dress, but my mom managed to calm her down, and then we called a transport line, and we waited and waited and it was already 20 minutes and nothing, so Daddy called the service center, while we started walking to the line station to catch a scheduled line in case we didn't get an on-call, but it turned out there was a local problem. The Cooper-Fowlers were really lucky they came from Aunt Amy's parents'. Anyway, we started walking to the closest station they said would be fine, and then Maxi got caught up in a bush, but Mom got him out, but then there was a giant tree that fell down and blocked the way, probably because of the massive winds that blew on Thursday, or maybe it was just very unstable, or.. Never mind," she shook her head, "then we had no choice but to run until we got to a place where an on-call service would be available, so we started running, and then Maxi tripped and went spiraling around, but he was okay, and then I was cold so I put on my scarf but it got caught up in my braces, and my parents told me to stop but I kept running 'cause we were so late, so I pulled it out-"

"Wait, what?! Are you okay?!" I asked.

"Oh yeah, the bleeding's already stopped," she waved it off as if it were no biggie, and continued, "And then we got a line and then we got here and I started telling you everything and I'm so sorry, and I can't believe it's so late and they're already serving and I've missed your speech!" she finished, looking very upset.

I grinned, "Actually, you haven't! We moved it up, you only missed my parents and Halley, and you already know all the terribly embarrassing things my dad told _the world_ about me, so you really didn't miss a thing."

She let out a breath and smiled in relief.

"I'm so happy you're here and you're okay. You _are_ okay, right?"

"Yeah," she nodded, and then gave me another, shorter hug, which I obviously returned, it was as wonderful as the other one.

"Hey, who's the little kid? I think I've seen her before," Jackson whispered, while Riley settled in her seat.

"She's older than she looks, she's just small" I answered. I know I was dodging the question, but it was true.

"Is she from another school?" Ned whispered. He didn't go to 'Grit', our school chain, at elementary.

"Uhuh," I nodded. Hey, it wasn't a lie.

The rest of the night was just awesome. I gave my speech, and I think I did well. I didn't care that much anyway, I wanted to get it over with, so Riley and I could initiate our game plan. The second I finished, we both ran to the game area, and started kicking ass. We really had the perfect plan! We were on fire! Burning like the sun! 10,000 degrees!

We were tired when we finished, but it was so worth it. I came back to my table to rest for a little, while Riley went to her dad, who was talking to Uncle Sheldon at their table.

I sat down and looked at her, talking to her dad. I knew she was telling him about our killing it at the games. I couldn't help but smile at her excitement, which I could see in her face, that grin she had and the way her eyebrows went up when she was talking… 'typical Riley', I thought, and snickered.

Suddenly, I heard Ned's voice from behind me, apparently he just came back from the dance floor and sat to my left, "Man, what is wrong with you?" he asked, chuckling, "first you blow her off, then you're giving her like _the_ most smitten look ever."

"What?" I turned to him, not understanding.

"Sorry man, you had your chance, but you blew it with that crazy 'this seat's reserved' bit of yours," he said, chuckling and tapping my shoulder.

Looking back in the other direction, I realized he was thinking I was giving that smitten look to Natalie, who was dancing with Mason (one of the most popular kids in our grade), a few feet behind Riley. Well joke's on him, 'cause I was smittenly looking at Riley!

I mean, looking at Riley. And smiling, 'cause she was excited and it's cute and funny when she's excited. 'Cause she's my best friend. And I like it when she's happy, she's my BFF. I mean… do I like being with her? Well, DUH, she's awesome. Would I rather be with her than with anyone else? Obviously, she's like a thousand times smarter, cooler and funnier than all my friends, and all the hot girls. I mean, there are hot girls who are fun and all, and, you know, really really hot, and it's nice to hang out with them, but it's not the same, it's just.. not it. Riley may only be almost 12, and she doesn't have boobs yet, and she's tiny, she looks more like a ten-year-old. But she's amazing, and she's still the most beautiful girl I know, even with the braces. She's.. Riley. So how could I not like her better than anyone else? I mean… do I feel different for her than for any of my other friends? Yeah. Is it like a special feeling? Well, yeah… like, good special. Do I want to do things for her? Definitely, especially if it makes her happy, that's the best. Do I want to do things with her that just BFFs don't do? Well, I definitely want more of those hugs, and there was that time we held hands at Griffith Park, and earlier today I admit I did have this thought of her lips…

Do I.. _like her like her?_


	13. Mission

_**A/N: Iiiit's chapter time! So here's a chapter!**_

 _ **But there won't be one for the next chapter time. (Unless something unexpected happens) I will post the next one in three weeks, instead of two. I've gotten a little behind on my writing, I like having the next chapter written (and sent out for beta) before I post a chapter, and now I only have the beginning of the 14 written and the rest of it just outlined. I've been busy with academic writing, and the latest chapters also took longer to write. So I'm gonna take another week, let's call it "a holidays break".**_

 _ **I also thought this is a more fitting time for the little "break", because this chapter is the longest one yet. It's seriously long! I went for a little ambitious premise here... It could be its own story, divided into 3-5 chapters. Feel free to take breaks (one possible place for a break is before the paragraph that describes solving a Sudoku, it's about half-way).**_

 ** _Thanks to all who read, follow, favortied, and review. I love reading everything that comes to your minds when reading, it can be about the whole thing or just a small part, whatever you feel like, and whenever you feel like (I love all reviews just the same, even if the chapter was posted a long time ago)._**

 _ **Happy Hanukkah to everybody who's celebrating!** _**_  
_**

**_The Big Bang Theory is not mine oh mine. Shame oh shame. But every character that appears here and did not appear there is mine, and so are, to some extent, these versions of Halley and Michael._**

* * *

 **Chapter 13: Mission**

 _May, 2031._

 _[Raj.]_

Our gang is growing up. No one can deny that. Anti-aging products may keep my skin as shiny and soft as melted caramel, but they cannot stop the hands of time from casting their nasty spell on us.

The kids are all grown now. Halley is 14, and in high school. She's also had a boyfriend for 8 months now, a heartthrob with a knee-weakening smile (Bernadette got it out of me, but don't tell Howard). Michael had his Bar-Mitzvah, his Jewish 13th birthday, two months ago, and next year will be joined in middle school by Riley, who just turned 12. Stephen Cooper-Fowler and Sophie are nine, and my little diva queen, Kotie, will be eight next month. Even little Maxi and Lizzie will soon be kindergarteners.

Leonard and Sheldon are both mostly grey now, and won't do anything about it. I make sure to visit the salon every month. Howard barely has any noticeable grey hairs, and won't let us forget it. Amy has multi-focal glasses, and Bernadette has secret reading ones. Penny can say her roots are "extra blonde" all she wants. My beautiful Anaya is holding on pretty well. She says it is because she's in harmony with nature and the gods, but my face creams and masks are always emptier after she leaves the bathroom.

Our gang was getting older, and that is why it needed a new adventure, something to regenerate us, to inspire us, to bring us focus - a mission. Our gang needed another one of my phenomenal group adventure enterprises.

"Sweetheart, if you need a mission, how about keeping a quiet environment for me for just another 10 minutes?" Anaya said after I told her my conclusion, while we were doing our evening meditation. That's when the gloomier thoughts tend to come to me. Unless I'm busy with the Beyoncé ones.

"No, Love, we all need a mission. I have to do this, for the gang, they don't want to become old and tired, with no excitement left in life and just a few grey hairs on heads that were once full with luxurious deep black curls," I explained, rising to my feet and then taking a water bottle out of the refrigerator.

Anaya sighed and stood up as well. She put her hand on the back of my head and played with my curls with her finger, "I'm sure _the_ _gang_ will keep being just as lovely, no matter what happens on their heads, and I think _the_ _gang_ will be better off coming to accept the changes that the mighty forces of nature bring upon us," she said calmly. Then she shrugged and smiled, her tone becoming lighter, "But I'm game."

So there I was ten days later, watching my friends and family gather in Caltech's cafeteria, through one of the screens in the university's security office, my 'control room' for the day. Once again, my croissants worked their magic, and I got the head of security to give me the keys and codes to every room in the university.

"Anaya, Hi," Leonard said as he came to greet my wife and daughter, who came in last. "Do you know what was so urgent that Raj had me open the university on a Saturday? And where is he?" he asked.

That was the perfect moment to play the light effects I'd installed. I pressed the button, and purple lights started flashing in the cafeteria. "Good morning, task force," I said through the mic, "and welcome to the starting point of your special mission!" I played an echo effect.

I heard many groans in response.

"Seriously?!" Penny complained; "Not this again," Bernadette groaned; "Raj, do you realize you made me abuse my position for that?!" Leonard threw his hands in the air, and then put his head on them.

I did not let this distract me, and continued with my script, "The fifteen of you have been chosen to go on a tantalizing, suspenseful, mind-wracking adventure to complete the grand mission you have been entrusted with."

"Oh wow!" Stephen said.

"Yay mission!" Lizzie cheered.

"He's not being serious, Stevie, this is 'make-believe'," Amy explained to her son.

"And it is a fairly good one, as it is based on reality, drawing on the actual superiority and task-force-appeal some of us possess," Sheldon added, obviously referring to their family.

"Are you actually going with this?" Howard asked Sheldon.

"Why not? While this 'adventure' has been crafted by Raj, meaning goofy, county-fair riddles are to be expected, as well as obnoxious visual and sound effects, it would be like playing the beginners' level of a game one's well versed in, which I do every once in a while, so that I do not forget how much better I am than most players," Sheldon reasoned.

Penny had a response for that, "Yeah, every time I see you the first thought that comes to my mind is, 'boy, would someone please remind this guy how much better he is than everyone else?'"

"Aww don't you worry, Penny," Sheldon said, oblivious of her sarcasm, "I am more aware of it than I let on, I just remain humble, to spare the feelings of you all."

Howard looked at the camera, "Here you go, Raj, Sheldon and his ego, that's enough to cover for 15 people, so we're just gonna head off…" he gestured toward the exit.

"Oh come on, you guys," Anaya said, standing in front of the others, with her back to the camera, "just go with it, Raj has been working on this very hard and I'm sure he's made us a great game. In fact, this game is probably so great, that I'm sure that if we don't play it now, we might have to compensate for it with many, many other games later."

"Fine," "Okay," and "Let's get it over with," sounded.

"Okay! All aboard, we're setting off!" I called. "But first, you're gonna have to divide into groups," I said.

I saw them about to move around.

"Uh uh uh," I stopped them, "assigned randomly."

"What?! That's not fair!" competitive Halley immediately protested.

"Yeah, you need to make the groups even in skills," her even more competitive mom joined.

"I can and I will," I said in a sing-songy tone. One of the skills a game master must have is the ability to stick to the plans and rules of the game and not cave under pressure. "Let's see…" I said, as I put the names into the group generator app. "Group number one will be Sheldon, Anaya, and Sophie."

Anaya and Sheldon sighed simultaneously.

"Group two, Bernadette, Max and Amy."

"Wait, Raj, I think I'd better be with Stephen, you know this is a very different situation to deal with than what he's used to, and you're probably planning on special effects…" Amy said. Stephen, as part of having ASD, has difficulty dealing with new situations and has his sensitivities, mostly to noise. When we do things that are not usual for him, he and his mother usually stick together.

"Relax, Amy, I'm sure my buddy here will be just fine…He's with.. Howard and Kotie." That was not the greatest match, and I could see Amy and Howard becoming worried, and Sheldon sighing and shaking his head, but I waved it off, "I'm sure it will be fine. Now, group four will be Leonard, Halley and Lizzie, and group five Michael, Penny and Riley."

Leonard kept quiet, but I could see he did not like it. I couldn't blame him, I love my teen-queen Halley, but playing with her can get rough. She might lash out at him, the same way Bernadette had years ago when we played scavenger hunt. To this day Leonard avoids teaming with Bernadette as much as he can. Well, at least Group Five seemed happy.

And so, the mission began. I sent each group to a different room, where they would find their first clue or task.

Group One was sent to the basketball court for their first task – arranging hoops in the correct way. I'd set some rules, like 'Pink hoops cannot be less than two hoops apart from red hoops' or 'Green hoops must be adjacent to either yellow or blue hoops'.

Once they realized their task, Anaya started to chant the mantra to worship Lord Ganesh. It is a Hindu custom to do so at the beginning of a new project, since Lord Ganesh is the remover of obstacles.

"What are you doing?" Sheldon cut her off, while Sophie was standing there quietly, looking.

"I am worshiping Lord Ganesh, Sheldon, do not disturb me," she answered curtly, not looking at him, trying to continue.

"Anaya, we are about to start a cognition-based task in a prestigious university, this is neither the time nor the place for primitive appeals to your imagined little buddies!" Sheldon berated.

Anaya now turned her head to him sharply, an angry look on her face, "Sheldon, I did not ask for your opinion, let me finish. We said I'd respect your beliefs and you'd respect mine, didn't we?"

"Incorrect. We said we would not try to _change_ each other's beliefs. Like I am not trying to make you change that ridiculous Ganesh shirt you are wearing. Isn't that enough worship? Geesh, someone should tell him that constant praise-seeking is a sure recipe to make one rather unlikable."

"Wait, how do you know that's Ganesh?" Anaya asked, surprised, like I was. Howard just calls Ganesh 'the elephant guy'.

"I did some research after meeting you, I read about all your deities," Sheldon answered.

"Really? Sheldon that's-" Anaya was excited at the gesture, but Sheldon cut her off.

"And I've got to say, your deity system is highly uneconomical. While I find my mother's practices to represent a ludicrous solution the simple man has made to overcome his great shortcomings in understanding the world around him, at least she wastes her energies on one hybrid deity that can satisfy all her needs, like a smart-phone," he said, obliviously.

Even when he does something nice, like actually taking an interest in someone else's beliefs, Sheldon is quick to ruin it. He is a man rooted in his views of the world, he thinks he's always right, and will tell it as (he thinks) it is, no matter how disrespectful it might be. At times, this can make you want to rip his face off and let your dog shred it, but you get used to it. It helps when your friends are there to joke, sigh or roll eyes with you. Unfortunately, Anaya only had Sophie there, gentle little all-pleasing Sophie. I could see my Honey-Bee get mad, seriously mad, the kind of mad that results in this usually calm and accepting sweet woman becoming a close-minded, grunting trooper, determined to do everything her own way.

Sheldon continued, "Now, let's stop wasting time and start listing every possible arrangement of hoops. I suggest we start with arrangements where all hoops are at the same angle, and then move on to differing angles. To save time, I say we take the risk and not consider all 180 possible degrees for every hoop, as I am willing to assume Raj would not require us to work on maintaining hoops at a degree at which they could not remain still. But there are still many options to sort out, so, chop chop!"

Sophie took a step toward Sheldon, to join him.

"Are you kidding me?!" Anaya yelled, causing the other two to jump a little. "The angle is zero, flat, on the floor! We need to take the hoops, follow the rules and just move them around until we get it." She started marching toward the hoops, with Sophie following her, and then stopped in her place, "But first," she said, and then chanted the mantra.

Sheldon scoffed, murmured something I could not hear, and started writing something on his phone.

Group Two seemed to be doing well, so far, with Bernadette leading the way from their first task, in the history department's offices, to their second one, in one of the halls where business classes take place (to which they were guided by a clever clue, using the lyrics of 'Genie In A Business', the masterpiece from my gal Christina Aguilera's seventh come-back album). Max, as cheerful and driven as always, was running after Bernadette, at a pace that sure worried Amy. This little guy is a major source of accidents, and Amy had to constantly steer him in the right direction. I had a feeling she was not that much into the game, but at the time I supposed it was due to having to deal with Bernadette's bossing her around and playing as if world glory were waiting at the end, while also looking after an overly excited Maxi.

Leonard was also having a hard time with a competitive Wolowitz. Group Four was doing well, already working on their third riddle, but Leonard seemed miserable. He was now trying to solve an equation (I sent that group to a route with an equation since he was part of it), while Halley kept yelling at him to hurry up. On his other side, he had a delighted Lizzie, cheering loudly and jumping around at every single bit he wrote. That was very cute, when seen from my control room, but all of it, together with the yelling from his other side, seemed to overwhelm the poor guy.

Group Three was in one of the engineering labs. With it being Howard's kingdom, they finished the task of 'The Robot Rush Hour Game' in no time. Howard had just gotten his hands on their clue, with Stephen standing by his side, while Kotie was looking around the lab.

"Uncle Howard, this robot has lots of fingers!" she said.

Howard took a quick glance, "Yeah, this one's for manipulating delicate objects," he tried to get back to the clue, to read it out loud.

"Can it put on make-up?" my curious little princess asked.

"I don't know, maybe," Howard answered shortly, and started to read the first two words.

"Can it paint nails?"

"Kotie, we're trying to play your daddy's game, I'm sure he would like you to be part of it," Howard tried to get her on board. But he was wrong about that, my fairy princess had other priorities, which was totally fine by me. I let her do her.

"Got it," Stephen said.

Howard turned his head, "Really? It looks pretty tricky."

"The bold letters in each word stand for elements, the numbers of which represent the serial number of the laser we have to get to, because it says 'Laser' in the title. It's the one in the inner room in the old laser exposition," Stephen answered matter-of-factly.

Howard was shocked, "You figured that out in less than a minute? and you remember which laser it is?"

"Yes."

"That's amazing!"

Stephen looked at him quietly, seeming to wait for something.

"Stephen, that's amazing, good for you!" Howard repeated.

"Oh, do you really mean that?" he asked.

"Of course!"

"Oh," a smile crept on Stevie's face, "thank you."

Group Five was going so fast, it was hard to keep track of them. It was like a storm of "Got it!"s, high-fives and running around. Penny took part in the tasks, but had little to do with solving the clues and riddles - Riley and Michael had a firm grip on that, with Riley leading the way and solving every formula and every riddle that required more scientific knowledge.

There was one slow down for them, eventually. They just seemed to be a little tired of running, and decided to walk to the chemistry department instead.

"Ugh dang it," Penny groaned, looking at her shirt, "not this one, too! That's the third shirt I've found a hole in, this month. I keep forgetting to separate the delicate ones and follow this laundry plan they have on the label. Turns out these instructions aren't for nothing, after all," she shrugged.

"You should always read laundry instructions, Aunt Penny," Michael said, "I never let any of my suits go to laundry before I make sure my mom has read them through."

" _Or_ you could just avoid buying these thin, silky shirts," Riley said.

"Nah, they're too cute, and it gives me an excuse to go buy more clothes," Penny responded.

Michael chuckled, "Good point!"

Michael and Penny high-fived, making Riley sigh and roll her eyes.

"Oh come on! How can you not see that clothes shopping is awesome?" Michael responded to that.

"Beats me," Penny said, "I keep hoping one day she'll get it and start having fun, but 12 years in and nothing. All she does is scoffing, sulking, groaning, eye-rolling and trying to sneak out. That is if I manage to get her to the store."

"That's because it's _boooring!_ " Riley groaned, rolling her eyes and throwing her head back.

It's funny, with these two. In some ways, Riley is so different from her mom, but at the very same time so much like her. All you gotta do is talk to her a little, and you _know_ she's Penny's kid, and not just because of the gorgeous eyes, Barbie-doll nose and fabulous cheek bones.

Back to Group One, tensions did not seem to go down. Anaya and Sophie got through the hoop task pretty fast, and after Sheldon quickly solved some science-related riddles, they were now about to start one of the more challenging tasks. I sent them to the biggest auditorium in Caltech, where they had to find the card with the next clue beneath one of the many chairs. The trick was, there was a clue within the instructions, that would narrow it down to a handful of chairs.

Anaya, however, was entrenched in her own way. She immediately marched to the chairs and started looking beneath every one of them, sending a sharp "Come on!" toward the rest of her group.

"I hardly think so," Sheldon said. "Clearly, there is a clue within the instructions. What we have to do is crack it, and then we'll have much better indication of where the card should be."

"Yeah, yeah, do whatever you want. Sophie, come help me find this clue _today_ ," Anaya called.

Sophie seemed hesitant, looking from Anaya to Sheldon and back again, but then took a step toward Anaya, "Okay…"

"No, Sophie, come do it the _right_ way," Sheldon said.

"Okay," Sophie took a step back, in Sheldon's direction.

"Sophie, let's show him how it's done, we have Mata Parvati on our side," Anaya tried to entice Sophie with a smile that, given her mood, was more scary than anything else, "She represents the-"

"The feminine power," Sheldon completed.

Anya gave him a look.

"Okay," a clearly nervous Sophie said and took a step toward Anaya.

"Sophie, don't listen to this poppycock, you're Doctor Beverly Hofstadter's grandchild, you belong with the intellectual power," Sheldon said, crossing his hands and giving Anaya his own angry look.

"Okay," Sophie took a step back toward Sheldon.

There was a long moment of silence, with Anaya and Sheldon looking at each other angrily, barely even blinking. Finally, they both turned away from each other in silence, and turned to do work their own way, with Sophie working with Sheldon.

Anaya was only at the beginning of the second row, when Sheldon and Sophie walked down to the 54th row and started checking under the chairs on its right, until they found the card beneath the fifth chair.

Group Two was now in one of the telescope rooms, where they had to look for a black marble with a star-like pattern. Bernie and Maxi started looking frantically, making me pray that I didn't have to beg for my job after that. Amy, however, just stood there. She wasn't into it to begin with, but even the bit of enthusiasm she might have had, had lessened as the game progressed. After a minute of standing and looking at her teammates, she noticed a chair to her left, and sat on it.

"Hey, what are you doing?!" Bernadette asked, in her tough and rough tone, as soon as she saw Amy sitting.

"I'm taking a few minutes," Amy answered.

"I don't think so!" Bernadette stood up, "Not that you've been such great help anyway, but you're not allowed to take breaks!"

"Not allowed?! Who do you think you are?!" Amy got angry, and stood up as well.

"I'm your group leader, and I will not allow you to take the win away from the group!" Bernadette replied.

"Are you kidding me? Bernadette, this is just one of Raj's stupid games!"

"Hey!" I protested, but being alone with the microphone off, no one could hear me.

"So you do know you're in a game! Now play it!" Bernadette commanded.

"I know that I'm in a game, and I also know that my son's in a game, a game he's not familiar with, with people who are not familiar enough with his difficulties!" Amy yelled back, clearly upset.

There was a moment of silence. "Is this why you're being such a drag?" Bernadette asked, this time softly.

Amy did not answer, she just slumped on the chair, dejectedly.

Bernie rolled another chair next to Amy and sat down. "Look, I know Howard's not the most sensitive guy, and not the most considerate guy," she said, "or responsible," she added, "but I'm sure he'll be fine with Stevie, your son's gonna be okay."

"I know, he'll be fine," Amy said, "And I trust Howard."

"Really?" Bernie asked, making the two smirk.

Amy continued, "But something may get to him along the way, and I'm not gonna be there to help."

Bernadette sighed, "Amy, I know I can't tell you how to deal with a special kid, you've been doing that for years, and I'm so impressed by the way you handle it, I really am. But you can't always be there for him, whenever something's wrong, you just can't."

"I know, and I have Sheldon, and you guys-" Amy started, but Bernie continued.

"You also can't always make sure that he'll have someone to care for him. It's not like that. Your kid, both your kids, will have to take some crap every now and then, that's just life. You can't take responsibility for everything that happens to them."

Amy sighed, and nodded slowly, "I guess you're right," she raised her eyes to look at Bernie's, "Thank you, Bernadette."

I smiled. Things were starting to take shape.

"Aunt Bernie, I think I found it!" Maxi's voice was suddenly heard.

Like Bernie and Amy, I was trying to figure out where he was.

"Never mind, it's just dirt!" he called.

They then noticed he was crawling beneath a short, wide bench.

"But we do have to take responsibility over that," Bernadette said, and with Amy agreeing, they rushed to get him out of there.

Stephen, Howard and Kotie were solving a Sudoku. Howard was filling squares in, with Kotie decorating the parts he had finished, and Stephen sitting on his other side, twitching.

"Are you sure you're okay there, buddy?" Howard asked, probably following up on a previous question.

"Yes I am," Stephen replied quickly, twitching again.

"You're literally twitchy," Howard now laid down his pen and turned to Stephen.

"I'm sorry," Stephen said.

"For what?" Howard asked, confused.

"I tend to twitch when something's bothering me, I can't help it."

"So something _is_ bothering you, what is it, champ?"

"I'd better not say."

Howard furrowed, "Why not? You can trust me."

"You will mock me," Stephen responded.

"I promise I won't, astronaut's word."

"Yes you will, if I tell you how you're doing the Sudoku wrong, randomly solving squares instead of working in an orderly fashion, starting with squares for which there's only one choice possible, you'll say not everything has to work by my rules and that if it makes me have a short circuit then you'll get some quiet and everybody wins, just like you said to my father," Stephen said.

Howard was taken aback. "Stephen, I… I'm sorry. Sometimes I say these things to your dad, and maybe I get carried away, but you know, he des-" I could guess what he was going to say, but he decided to avoid that, "Look, your dad and I have our issues, but this should not affect you, okay? Whatever I say about your dad is between me and him, it doesn't apply to you."

"Oh," Stephen said.

"So how 'bout we do this your way?" Howard asked, smiling.

Two out of five, we were getting up there!

Group Four was assembling puzzles that would guide them to their last task. Initially, Leonard offered to help Lizzie, but her "No thank you, Uncle Leonard," turned out justified. The little five-year-old was the best out of the three, going at a ridiculous pace. She was already finishing her second puzzle, while Leonard and Halley were on their firsts.

After assembling some pieces, Leonard sighed.

"What?" Halley asked, impatiently.

"Nothing, nothing," he answered, but a few seconds later started talking, much to Halley's chagrin. "This part here has the word 'Schedule'. That reminded me of the new secretary Penny and I have to hire for the fund, to take care of scheduling, now that we have too much going on for the existing personnel to deal with. I just hate making hiring decisions, there's a lot of risk there, especially when it's for administrative work."

"Well, people are kind of like zits," Halley shrugged, "you have to check them closely to see what you're dealing with,"

Leonard nodded slowly, thinking it through.

"And how to destroy them."

Leonard's eyebrows shot up. "Yeah.. I guess…" he said tentatively. "There's this woman, Lauren, she says she's worked for a company that had her managing the schedules of many of its sub-divisions, and that it was no problem for her. That sounded impressive, but Penny has a bad feeling about her. But she did give us names of the managers of those divisions…"

"So she was all confident, and acted like this job was a piece of cake for her?" Halley asked.

"Pretty much," Leonard answered.

"Yeah, probably a fraud. I bet those people whose names she gave you are all some friends of hers or low-rank workers she just bossed around, you know, 'managing their schedules'."

"You think?"

"The name of the game is walk the walk, talk the talk, if there's anything about the talk that's unusual and feels fishy, you gotta do the checking, it's probably as real as a reality show."

'Not exactly what I had in mind, but maybe this could count,' I thought.

Moving to Group Five, they were now on their last task. They were in the Neurology paper-journals archive. I'd put notes in some of the journals there, and led them to those journals through clues on their second-to-last card. When sorted according to the numbers written on them, the notes would make up their last clue, which would send them back to the cafeteria.

Riley and Michael had just found the last notes, and were approaching the table to start sorting them. That's when Riley looked around, and noticed her mom sitting in the corner, staring at them, absent-mindedly.

"Mom, come help us," Riley called. Casual on the surface, but she sounded worried.

"What?" Penny refocused, "Oh, that's okay, Cub, I know you don't need me."

"But, Mommy, we're a team," Riley probably thought there was something wrong there. She left the table and walked to her mother's side.

Michael followed, and stood by Riley's side.

"Your team can do great without me," Penny shrugged, and then passed her hand through Riley's hair, and smiled a small smile, "you and your magnificent brain sure don't need me and my little college drop-out brain."

"What? Mom, are you saying you're- well the size of the brain doesn't actually indicate- Are you saying you're stupid?!"

Penny shrugged and sighed, "I don't know, but compared to you I'm just a blond monkey."

"That's not true!" Riley said, obviously concerned, and seemingly more upset than Penny herself, who seemed to be in this kind of rueful acceptance.

Penny picked up on that, and wrapped her right arm around her daughter, her tone changing, "Hey, that's okay baby. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you," she gave Riley a long kiss on her forehead, "I just couldn't help but think how amazing you are, and that soon you're not gonna need me anymore."

"Mom, that's crazy! I'm always gonna need you! Not with homework, but everything else, like, comforting, and supporting, and having fun and joking, and hugging and kissing and cuddling, and nagging me about clothes and shoes, and socks, and putting on a hat and sunscreen…"

Penny had a smile growing on her face, that turned into a chuckle when nagging came up.

"Are you gonna stop doing all of this?" Riley asked, worried.

"No! No," Penny hurried to respond and hugged Riley, caressing her back, "Of course not. Cub, I will always be there for you."

"Good, because I need you," Riley said.

"Good," Penny said, smiling.

"And you're not stupid."

Penny responded with a kiss to Riley's head.

"Yeah, Aunt Penny," Michael chimed in, "And Riley is half you, so you're at least half amazing."

Penny gave him a confused look, and so did Riley, who turned in her mother's arms to look at him.

The colors of the security cameras were a little off, but Michael turned so red that I could clearly see it. "I mean, because _you_ said Riley's amazing, and you're her mom so she's half you so you're at least half amazing, I just went off what _you_ said," he said quickly, nervously.

"Oh, okay, thanks sweetie," Penny said, "now, you guys wanna finish this?"

"Yes," Riley smiled.

"Umm I think I'll take a bathroom break, we're probably close to finishing anyway," Michael said, and was out of the door before Penny and Riley even got to respond.

"What's with him?" Penny asked Riley.

"I have no idea, he's been so weird lately," Riley said, "I think since about the time he had his birthday… I really don't know what's going on with him."

"Well, I don't think I can help you too much with that. I didn't really have friends who were boys as a kid, I think the first guys I could call my real friends were your daddy and uncles. Your daddy's for sure my only male best friend, and this may not be a good comparison. But you've got other guy friends," Penny pointed out.

"Yeah, but it's not the same with Thomas and Hiroshi… I don't know, maybe he's just going through puberty, nurse Alexander said it might be awkward. Yuck, I hate SexEd, I wish I'd never go through puberty," Riley said, scrunching her face.

Penny chuckled, "So do I."

Another score! It was time to check on the most challenging group.

Group One kept going through its tasks with Sheldon doing one thing and Anaya another, and Sophie being dragged to join either of them. But when they got to the laser maze, they faced their ultimate challenge. The card was in one of 15 boxes placed along three of the walls in my office. To get to them, they would have to go through the laser maze. Each time they touched a laser ray they'd have to start over, and if they got the wrong box they'd have to wait, a minute for the first one, two for the next, and so on. Clues as to which may be the correct box were provided after the instructions. What made this very tricky and clever task even trickier for this group, was that only one person could go in, with the others only being allowed to participate in choosing the path to go, and helping that person through the maze.

Anaya finished reading the instructions out loud, gave the card to Sophie, and was about to march inside.

"Where do you think you're going?" Sheldon asked.

"Where do _you_ think I'm going?" Anaya turned and replied.

"We may have overcome the consequences of your reckless behavior earlier, but here there are clear consequences to every mistake, you can't just go through it mindlessly, you have to carefully devise a comprehensive plan!"

"Sheldon, the only plan I'm going to devise right now concerns finding a way to make the gods forgive me for what I'm about to do to you. I'm a woman of faith, but also of public school."

"And this is why I should be the one to calculate the odds of every box being the correct one, and you should be the one carefully following my orders as you go through the maze."

I couldn't make out what they were saying after that, because they were both yelling at each other at the same time, but after a minute or two, the sound of the maze being turned off suddenly sounded, making Anaya and Sheldon stop fighting and look into the office, and myself look at the adjacent screen.

"Found it," Sophie said, standing with their next card, the correct box behind her.

Sheldon, Anaya and I were shocked.

"Wha- how did you do that?" Anaya asked.

"You couldn't have possibly calculated your every step so quickly," Sheldon said.

"I didn't, I used the clues to narrow it down, which left just 3 boxes, all by this wall, which was enough to go inside because once I'd got there the maximum amount of time I'd have to wait would be three minutes and there wouldn't be any risk of hitting a ray anymore," Sophie explained, "It was way better than waiting for you two to drive me crazy each pulling me to their side like giant babies, wasting all the time arguing about wasting time!" Sophie snapped.

Damn, it turns out the Hofstadter snark didn't skip this one after all!

To say we were shocked would be the understatement of the year. Actually, Sophie herself seemed shocked by her outburst, looking at Anaya and Sheldon with eyes opened just as widely as theirs were.

"Sorry," came a characteristic little squeak from her, after a moment.

Well, certainly not what I was expecting, but a score for Group One.

By that time, Group Five was already in the cafeteria, while groups Two and Four were on their way. Group Three had just finished their last task.

Halley and Bernadette were both yelling at their teammates to go faster. Maxi and Lizzie did as they were told, but Amy and Leonard were not giving it their all.

"Come on, Uncle Leonard, move it! MOVE IT!" Halley yelled, impatiently.

"Halley, I'm tired. Nothing will happen if we get there a minute later," Leonard answered.

"Everything will happen! Every second could cost us the first place!"

"So we'll be second, or third place," Leonard shrugged.

Halley was horrified, "Do you hear yourself?! I'm not going to lose!"

"It's not losing, just not being first."

"This _is_ losing, and I'm _not_ losing!" Halley insisted, "Come onnn!" she stomped her feet, highly frustrated.

"Halley, calm down, this is just one of Raj's games, it doesn't matter," Leonard said, trying to calm her.

"Hey!" I protested again, to no one.

"It does matter, I have to win everything!" Halley responded.

Leonard sighed, "Okay, I'll hurry up, but only if you stop for a minute and listen to me."

"Ugh fine," Halley groaned and stopped, turning to face Leonard, while Lizzie playfully froze like a statue, a few steps before them.

"You don't have to win everything-"

Halley was about to reply, but Leonard stopped her.

"I know you think you do, but you really don't. You can keep trying, but you'll end up living in high stress all the time. And, when you go through life competing, you might lose track of what's good for you, and what you're good at, what you really want to put effort in. Like, reading people, figuring out their motives, catching their bluffs, you're really good at that."

"I _am_ good at that," Halley realized.

Leonard smiled, "Yes, you are. Now, let's get this thing over with," he said and started running, Halley and Lizzie following.

'Looks like it's five out of five after all!', I thought.

Then I heard Halley say, "I'm gonna be the absolute best at it, no one's gonna be even half as good as I am!"

Four and three quarters? Still a killer feat!

You see, the real mission here wasn't to finish some string of riddles and tasks, or reach the cafeteria first, or work out the best strategies. The mission was what was found along the way, the invaluable personal missions each of the groups had managed to complete, by the power of mutual help. Amy found out that not everything is her responsibility, Howard learned that sometimes what we do or say has ripple effects, Penny discovered important things about herself and her worth. Sophie gathered the courage to stand up and do things her own way, and Halley.. was given a significant life lesson. There are many kinds of missions, my friends, but _this_ is the best of them all. In this magical Saturday morning, _everyone_ won.

"This again?!" Penny shouted, after I gave them all this wonderful ending speech, when asked who won the game.

"Are you freaking kidding me?!" Bernadette yelled at me, fire in her eyes.

Multiple groans sounded.

Penny crossed her hands, giving me a piercing glare, and hissed, "Run. _To Mars."_


	14. Take a shot

_**A/N: Back from the holiday break :)  
(Although sadly there's still time 'til TV show are back, I need my CXG fix!)**_

 _ **For those who are interested, I published a little Christmas piece in Corollary-verse, 2023. It's called "Mommy, we need to talk".**_

 _ **Thanks to all who read, reviewed, follow, favorited. I love reading whatever you have in mind, so even if it's two words I would be grateful if you go ahead and write it :) Special thanks to my great beta joyteach and this time, thanks to Tensor as well, who answered some question I had about the American term for something here.**_

 _ **2019 is coming in just a few days, so happy new year everybody!**_

 _ **The Big Bang Theory does not belong to me. If it did, I would be living in a house that has windows to block the terrible music my negihbors are currently playing. Ugh. I only own my OCs, including, to some extent, this story's Halley and Michael.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 14: Take a shot**

 _August, 2031._

 _[Howard.]_

I don't know what my wife was thinking, when she 'suggested' that I go on a fishing trip with her dad. She found out our last 'fishing trip', so many years ago, was actually a casino one, and her response was to make us go again. I'm sorry, 'suggest'.

Mike and I, let's just say we _don't_ make 'quite a pair'. The only pair we could make is a Tom and Jerry one, only that show would be over in a minute, that's how long it would take him to destroy me.

He's a tall, massive ex-cop who maintained his muscles despite his age, and remained as tough as he was the day I met him. He can shoot a moving target with his eyes closed and make people shiver with a single grunt. One time, he was too tired to open a can of beer, so he crushed it with his bare hands.

I'm… me.

It's not that I didn't try. I did my jokes, my magic, I tried joining-in his complaints. Sometimes it seemed to work, for a bit, but for the most part it just strengthened his disdain for me. How did Halley put this? "It's like he thinks of you as a Muppet. With a hint of a cartoon duck."

So I've given up on trying to get along with him. He's a good grandpa, he loves the kids, and Bernie, and they love him. So, Mike and I make sure that one of them is there with us all the time. I think you can count this as something we do together, but Bernie disagrees.

At least she let me invite our friends, and make it a group thing. She was worried her dad wouldn't like that, but, even though he tried to hide it, he sounded relieved.

That is how our entire gang, and Bernie's parents, ended up going on a fishing weekend. And I ended up going to Comic-Con as Aquaman.

After putting our luggage in our family's cabin, I went out and looked around. It was a very nice place, even beautiful. It was a big resort, with vast green areas. Miles and miles of grass and trees, some trails, lots of small cabins, and of course, the water.

I was walking around, mindlessly following the trails, getting closer to the water, when I turned my head and saw my father-in-law right in front of me.

"Oh, hi there," I said awkwardly.

"Hey," he said, not too happy about it.

Then we were both quiet for a minute. I nodded slowly, he scratched his head.

"So… Here we are, right next to the boats, huh?" I finally noted.

"Yeah… Right at the spot," he said.

"But we don't have to… I mean, we can, but…"

"Yeah…"

"We have enough time…"

"Yeah."

"And, we just got here, right? You know what," I pretended to figure out, "I bet Bernadette needs my help getting settled in the cabin…" Actually, she asked for my help, but I pretended not to hear and told her I was going to explore the area. But next to fishing with her dad, putting some clothes in the closet seemed like a hoot and a half.

"Yes, that sounds important," Mike nodded.

We each turned around swiftly, each going back the way he came.

On my way back, I saw the Koothrappalis starting to meditate on a blanket on the grass. Well, Anaya meditated. Kotie opened an eye about a minute in. Seeing that her mom had her eyes closed, she opened both eyes and quietly reached for her dad's pocket. Feeling this, he took his phone out of his pocket and let her take it, his eyes still closed. He hung in there for about a minute more, before he joined his daughter playing with his phone.

Coming back to the cabin, I found all the Hofstadter kids there, playing cards with Michael.

"Hey guys," I greeted everybody, and got five greets back, and a delayed, almost reflexive "hey" from Halley, who was in the kids' bedroom, probably glued to her phone.

"That was a rather short 'exploration of the area'…" Bernadette said, narrowing her eyes.

"I just came back to help you unpack," I said, innocently.

"That's so nice of you. And you came just in time, I just finished, so you could pack everything back and then unpack it, you know, because you want to help me so bad."

"Oh wow, I didn't imagine you'd already unpacked everything! If there ever are unpacking competitions, you'll be world champion!" I grinned, "And you did such a wonderful job here, it would be such a shame if I re-did it."

Bernie shook her head and smiled. "Well, there is something else you can do to help."

"Really? Great, great," I said through a smile, fearing where this was going.

"If you and my dad head out to fish right now, you could probably get enough fish for us for dinner, maybe even for lunch."

"Oh. Yeah, that's an idea," I said, thinking of a way to get out of it, "But, I'm just not so sure.. about the kids. The kids, they're not used to eating fish cooked right off the hook, they don't even eat that much fish as it is. And they're already in such a strange environment, I think we should take it easy, not overwhelm them. We have sandwiches for lunch, I bet the others have some stuff too, and we can order take-out for tonight. Let's just keep the fish for later, when we feel the kids are ready."

Bernie sighed, "Fine. You're lucky I don't like fish that much anyway."

"That's my girl," I said, putting my arm around her, smiling. "Hey, speaking of kids, why are all the Hofstadter ones here?" I asked.

"Riley said her parents told her to take her siblings with her to check our place. They said they had to do something 'adult-only' to get properly settled in their cabin," Bernie said, raising an eyebrow.

So, day one ended successfully for me. I managed to dodge the fishing, and I spent most of the day with Michael and Riley, flying the new drone I bought ("for Michael"). It was twice as fast as the previous line of drones for private use, the latest word in micro-engineering. Stephen insisted he was a part of it too, observing the whole thing from his room's window.

Things were less successful for Amy, who spent hours trying to convince Sheldon to come out of their cabin. Finally, a bird flew through the open door, making Sheldon come out screaming.

The next day, after breakfast, Sheldon was out and about. Tasked with watching his five-year-old, he had no choice. Lizzie was running around, enjoying everything she laid eyes on, while her father kept shouting for her to slow down, and complaining about everything he laid eyes on.

Looking around, I noticed Halley sitting by the water. But I'm not sure she even noticed that. I'd been watching her for several minutes, and not once had she raised her eyes from her phone. She wasn't even projecting the screen, just using the phone's physical one, so I could not see what she was texting. Teenagers.

Just as I turned to go back inside, I noticed Penny, Sophie and Max approaching the water.

"Maxi, please, slow down!" Penny called to her excited son, while practically dragging her fearful daughter.

As soon as Maxi came close to me I picked him up, "Hey there kiddo, how's it going?"

"We're going to the water!" he answered, excitedly.

"Thanks Howard," Penny said as she and Sophie reached us.

"At your service," I said, putting her son down.

"So, I see you're hanging out by the water, isn't that nice," Penny said, hinting me with her expression to play along, for Sophie's sake.

"Ohh yeah, I love the water," I lied, "When I was a kid, I used to go to swimming lessons every week, until my mom joined an adult class at the same hour." That, and my 'frantic fish out of water' swimming style wasn't acceptable anymore.

"Cool! Let's go swimming!" Maxi said and was about to turn toward the water.

"No," Penny quickly said, "We said we were only going to put our feet in, remember? Just our feet."

"Which is enough for the fish to bite us," Sophie said, still clutching her mom's hand.

"Nobody's gonna bite you, Princess," Penny said calmly.

"And if they do, it won't hurt, it's like a tiny little pinch," I said.

That made Sophie tense up, and Penny give me a glare.

"So..Where's Leonard?" I tried to change the subject.

"He's taking a nap," Penny said, "he was a bit tired.. from all the walking."

"Nice," I said, knowing what really made him tired.

"Mommy! A boat!" Maxi shouted excitedly, pointing at a small fishing boat sailing into the deep waters.

"Oh look at them go! Makes you wanna go feel the water caressing your ankles, right?" Penny said with a smile, turning from Max to Sophie.

"Yeah!" Maxi cheered.

"Ankles?! We said only feet!" Sophie said, alarmed.

Penny continued, "Makes you wanna go feel the soft, soothing touch of the waters."

"I'm going!" the excited Max said, starting to walk toward the water.

"The COLD COLD waters!" Penny raised her voice, stopping Max in his tracks, "so cold, that if you go in too fast it will hurt."

"I'm going!" Sophie said, starting to walk toward the cabins.

Penny put her face in her hands, frustratedly.

"So I'm gonna go…" I said, "Good luck..."

Penny nodded.

I was approaching our cabin, when suddenly I heard Bernie, "Howie!"

I kept walking, pretending not to hear her.

"Howie!"

I thought I might just escape this.

"HOWIE!"

This I could not deny hearing, it made me jump in my place. "Yes, honey?" I asked, turning in the direction of her parents' cabin, which was right next to ours. She was sitting on a bench right outside of it with her mom. Seeing her mom go into the cabin as I approached, I did not like where this was going.

"How are you doing? You have taken so many walks, I haven't been able to keep track of you," Bernie asked, in her sweet voice.

"Yeah," I scratched my head nervously, smiling, "I was just connecting with mother nature. She's not as shiny and smooth as she's made to be in video games, you know, all photoshopped… But she's still beautiful, in a more natural way."

"Aha, aha," she nodded, not really listening. Then she took a quick glance at the door, a smile forming on her face, "And you know who also couldn't keep track of you?"

I saw her dad reluctantly coming out of the cabin, with her mom following behind. I knew it.

"Hi, Sir, Uh, Mike, how's it going?" I asked, awkwardly.

"Fine," he answered.

There was a moment of silence.

"Well, we've got a hold of each other," I said, clasping my hands, preparing to leave.

"Mike," Bernie's mom said, in a gentle voice, but with a slightly warning tone, "we have come here for you two to go fishing together."

Bernie looked at me, smiling and nodding.

Mike looked at his wife for a few seconds, "Yes, yes we have."

That's when my saving bell came, in the form of my son. "Uncle Leonard!" I heard Michael call from behind me.

Turning around, I saw Leonard walking from his cabin toward the trail that led to the water, which was in our direction, and Michael coming out of our cabin.

"Hey Michael, something wrong?" Leonard asked, raising his voice, since he was still a bit far.

"No, I just wondered if you could give me advice on something…" Michael answered.

"Hey, did you hear that?" I said to my wife and in-laws, "seems like my son needs help! I'd better go to him."

"He asked Le-" Bernie started, but I cut her off, not willing to miss my chance of dodging hours of either highly uncomfortable silence or horrible embarrassment.

"Bernie, our son's in need," I said, in a serious tone, and turned around, walking to the bench next to our cabin, where Michael and Leonard were about to sit.

"I heard someone needs advice," I said, smiling, as I sat down by Michael's other side.

"Uhh, it's okay Dad, I'm gonna talk with Uncle Leonard," Michael said.

"The more the merrier! Wouldn't you like a piece of wisdom from your old man?" I asked, rhetorically.

"I just thought I'd talk to Uncle Leonard…" he said.

"And now you've got two for one," I said, "So, what's seems to be the problem?"

Michael looked at me for a moment, then looked down, "It's kinda..about girls," he said, seeming nervous.

"Girls? Then why didn't you ask me? No offense to your Uncle Leonard, but you know I'm your guy when it comes to the ladies. You know, I had a feeling you had some trouble there. You're 13 and still no girl news. And it's not like you don't know what to do, I've taught you the moves, you have it down, you're ready, _and_ you're a basketball player!"

Michael's situation on the ladies front does baffle me. He's a great kid, he's not the short, boney nerd with orthodontic headgear that I was. He's supposed to do well, to get girls, and for real, not just a look under their shirts in exchange for homework.

Then Leonard started talking, "Well, each person has their own pace, there's no need to be ashamed of taking things-"

"Wait, are you having trouble choosing between the girls at school?" I asked Michael, "There are quite a few hotties in your grade…"

Leonard looked at me weirdly.

"From a kid's perspective!" I raised my hands defensively.

"It's not about choosing…" Michael said, "I mean, not about not knowing…" he sighed. "The thing is… What if.. What if she's too good for me? What if she's like, really awesome? I know I've got things going for me, I'm good at school and I'm tall enough, and I'm great at the 'Avengers 8.0' game, and I'm pretty funny, right?"

"And basketball," I added.

"And basketball. But I'm not.. I'm not like her. Like, she's _really_ awesome. What if I ask her to be more.. to be romantic, and she turns me down?" Michael asked, very concerned.

"That's it?" I asked, smiling, relieved. "That's what got you upset? Of course you're gonna be turned down," I tapped his shoulder, "You're gonna be turned down a hundred million times."

"Gee, thanks," Michael frowned.

"Michael, that's the way it is. Even for you. You're gonna get turned down all the time, but you gotta keep trying. You gotta take a shot, at every one. Do you really think I would've gotten your mom if I had only taken shots at women I actually had chances with?!"

"Umm," Leonard meddled, "I think this is a very reasonable concern, Michael. There's always a risk. If you truly care about this girl, and it seems that you do, it may be worth that risk, more than you could ever imagine. But, you should think it over, very carefully."

Michael listened to Leonard and nodded. He was about to say something to him, but I had to stop it.

"And by the time you're finished thinking it over and over you'll be 70 and the girl's living in Florida with the guy who actually took a shot while you were working out 200 scenarios. You gotta act, take shots all the time, hit at every girl you want. If you're lucky, things will somehow, against all odds, go your way, and you'll get a girl you in no way deserve. If not, she'll just blow you off," I shrugged, "and that's 'end of story', you forget all about her and move on to the next girl."

Michael looked at me, very worried. He was about to say something, when suddenly we heard quick footsteps in the grass.

"Daddy!" Riley called, running straight to her dad's arms, with Stephen walking behind her.

"Hey Cub," Leonard said, smiling, and kissed her head as they hugged, "How was your little trip?" he asked, after she leaned back.

"It was great! I even got Tivo to look at the horse stable from a hundred feet away!" she answered.

"I was almost killed," Stephen, who was now in front of us, stated.

"He heard a horse snort," Riley explained.

"That snort was clearly directed at me. That horse did not appreciate my presence in its territory, and was sending me a warning. If we hadn't left immediately, he would have run straight through the fence and crushed me with his feet," Stephen insisted.

"So, about this girl thing," I said, trying to continue my conversation with my son, while the others were talking about Riley taking Stephen around the resort.

"Dad!" Michael scolded me.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"Not now," he said, signaling toward the others with his eyes.

"What? Are you embarrassed to talk about this in front of these two? It's just the punk and the.. Stephen. He wouldn't care, and she's a cool little dude," I said.

But this was it, Michael refused to keep talking about his girl issues, and joined the other conversation instead. I don't know what bothered him so much about what I told him. I hope he'll get over it, whatever it is.

And if my advice didn't help him, at least it ended up helping me. Seeing that I didn't have a choice when it came to my father-in-law, that I couldn't forget about him no matter how many times he turned me down, I decided to change my strategy. From now on, I decided, I'll just keeping taking my shots with him. One of these times I'll get it right. Right?

This one sure wasn't it. Bernadette and her mom finally got us to go fishing. Two hours of the most uncomfortable silence I've ever experienced, then horrible embarrassment when I felt the fish he caught were glaring at me and fell into the water, then another hour of this silence, and shaking from the cold.

Maybe 187th time's the charm.


	15. Unbreakable

_**A/N: It's... Chapter time!**_

 _ **First chapter for 2019.**_

 _ **I have recently made a full outline for the story, and boy do I have a lot more I want to write (and that's after painfully giving up on some things)... Even if I finish at a possible earlier point (which means giving up on a lot) and manage to keep posting every two weeks (or less) it will end after the TV show ends. So...I can't gurantee anything but I may keep writing for at least some months after the show ends. Maybe there won't be any readers anymore but I don't want to end it at some arbitrary point. So I guess what I'm saying is The Corollary Theory may stay for a while longer, you can keep or stop rreading whenever you feel like it (I sure would love it if you stick with me, but can't force you).**_

 _ **Take note that many of the chapters will now have greater time differences between them. This one takes place 6 months after the previous one.**_

 _ **Thanks to all who read, review, favorited, follow. I love reading eveything you have in mind when reading, from short to long comments, from those written right after I post to those written a long time after that. Special thanks to my great beta-reader joyteach.**_

 _ **I do not own The Big Bang Theory. That belongs to Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady. I have different ideas for their characters. I do own my OCs, and to some extent this story's Halley and Michael. I am open to lending them, say if someone's in need of a next generation character, PM me.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 15: Unbreakable**

 _January, 2032._

 _[Halley.]_

"No jokes, no magic, no hinted threats and no questions or otherwise trying to find out what we do together," I said to my family, but mostly to my dad.

"But how am I supposed to give this little douchebag a proper check?" he asked.

"Dad! That's my boyfriend!"

"Honey, all 15-year-old boys are douchebags. Especially if they're messing with my little superstar. While we're at it, I don't like the sound of that word you just said… How 'bout we just call him a.. 'boyacquaintance'?"

"Howie…" my Mom said.

This was going to be just awful. I knew it. But it had to happen sometime... My family would meet my boyfriend, sooner or later. It would have been later, if stupid Taylor hadn't let it slip in front of my dad, before we went to Bryce's New Year's party. Of course, I didn't tell my dad we've already been together for a year and four months. For all he knows, we just started dating last month, after my birthday. I thought it would be easier if he thought it only started after I turned 15. He also thinks Bryce is my first boyfriend.

My mom seemed suspiciously unsurprised by that, and when I said we just started dating, she gave me a look… So I called Uncle Raj and found out that as I suspected, he'd told her. But I wasn't too worried about her, she seemed to have my back. I did tell her about my previous boyfriends, but when I started dating Bryce I wasn't a giddy little girl anymore, I didn't need to run and tell my mommy, and I didn't want too many people to know. It was too risky. Uncle Raj sister-swore to keep it a secret, and I love sharing these things with him. Well, at least he did keep it from my dad, I know that wasn't easy for him.

Michael is the only one in my family I've told. He can be stupid and annoying, but I needed someone in the house who would cover for me. He's good at that. He's saved me so many times already when dad's come home early and Bryce was in my room. He's also good at keeping secrets. The only one he told is Riley, and he had my approval for that. I knew he was gonna tell her anyway, and she wouldn't tell anyone 'cause she always has to be Little Miss Perfect.

Bryce didn't think too much of this dinner with my family. He said we'd just eat some, answer some, and get it over with. He said the sooner we were over with it the sooner we could go up to my room and make out, and that he won't have to hide under my bed or on the roof outside my window anymore. He's just so cool and chill, he won't let anything faze him. I love this about him.

He came in a single-person line. He's already gotten his license to ride lines alone. I turned 15 last month, so I just started to go to training. I'll probably get mine next month. I can't believe my parents had to learn for so long before they got licenses to drive cars. And they could only get it at 16, they practically had to have their parents take them places or use buses for forever, what a nightmare! But cars were much more complicated, and they actually had to control them all the time! They didn't just call them and put in their destination, they had to control the car and move it there, like you move a drone. The only time you have to move a line is if there's an emergency, and I've already learned most of it in training, it's very easy.

"Show off," Dad said, as we saw Bryce from the window, getting off the line.

I ignored that and went to open the door.

"Hey," Bryce gave me his smile, that smile that always gets my heart to beat faster. He's so hot, there's no denying that.

"Hey," I smiled back.

"Hey," my dad said dryly, trying to look tough with his arms crossed. It just looked funny, Bryce is like five inches taller than him and definitely more muscular.

"Hi Mr. Wolowitz, cool shirt," Bryce said, "Mrs. Wolowitz," he turned to my mom and held his hand out to shake hers.

"Doctor," I nudged him, whispering. I've told him that like a million times.

"Doctor Wolowitz," he corrected.

Mom shook his hand, smiling goofily, "That's okay," she waved it off with her other hand. Dad and I furrowed our eyebrows.

"Hey Mikey Mouse," he said to Michael and ruffled his hair, as he walked into the house.

"It's Michael," Michael groaned.

Mom giggled, making Dad and I look at each other, confused.

I guess you could say dinner was okay. Dad did try to find out what we do, in the least tactful ways. When Bryce said Mom's spaghetti was tasty, Dad asked if it was as good as my lips, thinking he was going to sneakily get Bryce to tell him if he'd already kissed me. Of course we kiss, all the time, but we didn't say anything. Then later Dad couldn't open the pickle jar, so Bryce helped, and Dad said, "You're quite the muscle-brain aren't you? Hours at the gym? Does it pay off, Halley?" That was super awkward, but Bryce just laughed so I joined in. Then, of course, came the part where Dad talks about his trip to space and his inventions, only in a more threatening way than he usually does. "How many astronauts pooped thanks to you, Bryce?" I never thought I'd hear that sentence. And Dad's "I'm just messing with ya'… Or am I?" did not make it any better. But I guess it could've been worse. After all, he was just trying to care for me, right?

Mom giggled throughout the whole dinner, even when nothing funny, or supposedly funny, was said. Dad and I were uncomfortable with that, but Bryce didn't seem to mind. He just smiled at her every now and then.

Michael just sat there and laughed at the awkwardness. It was annoying, but I can't really blame him, I would've done the same.

After we finished eating, Bryce and I went to my room. We watched a movie and made out a little, but not before I scanned the room and got all of Dad's cameras and microphones out.

Michael went out to the interactive movie theater with his friend, Jess. She's one of the kids in his gang from school, but lately they've been hanging out just the two of them every once in a while. Most of these times, she told him none of her other friends wanted to come, and one time her cousin Ned was supposed to go with them, but she said he got sick at the last minute. I don't have to spell it out for you, right? It's so obvious that girl's into him. It was even more obvious when I spied on them at school, next to their building. She's all smiles and little touches. I think Michael knows, but while he's not rejecting her, he's also not making any move, even though my dad's so much on his case, asking about her and giving him tips all the time. How come he doesn't see it? How come no one else sees it? I can't believe I'm the only one! Of course Michael doesn't want anything further with Jess, he's totally in love with Riley! What I don't understand is why he doesn't do anything about that. So many times I could swear he was going to tell her, but he just stayed quiet and looked kinda sad, as if someone told him it was a bad idea. Then he just went back to pretending everything was normal and he was totally fine just being her BFF, which is total BS.

The next day Bryce came to my house after school. It was nice not having to worry about my dad coming home early. I sure didn't want him to walk in on us, we never did too much anyway, just some kissing and some touching, all clothes-on, but he would've made a fuss. But at least I didn't have to hide Bryce.

"You know, I didn't want to tell my parents, but it's nice that we don't have to worry about them finding out anymore," I told Bryce, as I joined him lying on my bed, laying my head on his shoulder.

"Yeah," he chuckled, and wrapped his arm over me, "One of these days I would've fallen off the roof. Although your dad might've liked that."

"He's not that bad," I said, "I mean, he's not like your parents, they never had a problem with me-"

"My parents are cool. My dad's girlfriend is also totally fine, you'll see next time we're at his house."

"Yeah. But my dad's just being a little protective."

Bryce chuckled, "Your dad's just being a lot pathetic. 'Ooh I made a toilet! Ooh I was in space for some days!' Yeah…I'm shaking in fear!"

"You know he really was in space, it's a big deal. And building a toilet for space is not easy," I said.

"Whatever. You did give me the heads up about him, but your mom? That was kinda creepy."

"She's usually not like that. You'll see once you get to know her, she's a total badass. I wanna be like her when I grow up," I smiled.

"You're kidding, right?" he asked, looking at me with a mix of amusement and confusion, then he laughed, "Halley, you're hot, cool, and sharp as hell, you're nothing like your creepy, squeaky, mousy mom and you should thank your lucky stars for it. And pray for little Mikey Mouse."

I sat up, looking down at him, "Hey! That's my family you're talking about! And besides, you owe Michael so bad, he's kept the secret and saved us countless times!"

"Woah, calm down, Halley," he sat up. "It's just your family, not you, I said you're nothing like them."

He reached for my face with his hand, but I smacked it away, "But they're my family, I won't let you talk about them like that!"

Bryce chuckled again, "Come on, Baby, why are you taking this to heart? You know I'm right, at least about your dad, he's a pathetic little nerd, a total loser."

I stood up, unable to stand his arm on me anymore, "He may be very awkward, and extremely embarrassing, and he talks about space all the time, and his astronaut nickname was 'Fruit Loops'-"

"What?!" Bryce laughed hard.

"But he's my dad!" I yelled at him, which made him stop laughing, "And they're my family! And if you're gonna keep talking about them like this, then.. then.. Then you might as well get your ass out of here!"

"Baby, you can't be serious," he stood up quickly, looking at me, shocked.

"But I am," I crossed my arms, while I felt tears coming to my eyes.

"Many cool people have embarrassing families, that's no biggie, let's just laugh it off… Baby, it's you and me, we can't fight over this, don't let your family come between us," he looked me in the eyes, pleading.

I was engrossed in his beautiful hazel eyes for a moment, but shook it off. "My family can't come between us, because my family is part of me."

Bryce furrowed his eyebrows.

I looked at him, tears starting to come out as I thought about what I was going to say next. 'Am I really going to do this? Or am I being totally irrational? Am I being crazy? But that's _my family._ My "tribe", my people. That's who I am. Forever linked to those people. That's.. unbreakable'.

"And if you can't understand that, and respect that," I took a breath, the tears rolling down my face, "then we're breaking up."

"Wha- Halley, no!" he pleaded, taking my hands in his, his eyes watery, "You're not thinking straight. We're Brylley, the greatest couple 'Grit' has ever had. Everything's been so great ever since I passed your little test, remember? Stopping those jerks from beating up seventh graders?" he smiled.

"That was just a cover up, you idiot!" I released my hands, "I sent you there to save my brother!"

I didn't mean to confess this, it just came out. But, whatever! So I care about my family! And I love my little brother! There! I said it! Is that so wrong?! If anything, not loving your family is wrong!

"Halley…"

I closed my eyes, knowing that I wouldn't be able to do this if I looked him in the eyes. "Go," I said, pointing to the door.

"Halley…"

"I said go!"

After a silent moment, I heard him sigh and start to walk out. After he passed me, I opened my eyes and started following him, slowly. Getting close to the door, he turned and looked at me. He didn't say anything, just looked at me, pleading. It was so hard, but I kept a straight face. I stood on the stair landing, facing the door directly, as Bryce opened it and stepped out.

That's when she showed up at the door. Riley Hofstadter. Even the timing of this girl is perfect, isn't it?

She looked at Bryce, passing by her, and then at me. "Halley, are you okay?" she said with a worried tone, entering and closing the door behind her. That's actually more the fault of my parents and brother than hers, that she feels entitled to just do that.

I walked down the last stairs, "I'll be fine," I said.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" she asked.

She was probably trying to be the hero again, but I was too tired to fight her. "Just shut up, okay? I just shed a jerk-face from over me, I need a break."

Riley snickered a little at that phrase, which made me snicker as well.

"So, why are you here?" I asked.

"My daddy gave me this super-strong Neodymium magnet block he got on his visit to MIT," she said, getting out of her pocket a small cloth bag with something square inside it, "I wanted to show Michael. He was supposed to be home already."

I checked the time, "He was. You want me to call and yell at him to come?"

Riley chuckled, "That's okay, he's probably gonna be here any minute now."

At that exact moment Michael entered the house. But he wasn't alone. Jess was with him, looking very happy. I couldn't help but notice she put extra effort into her looks today. She usually dresses pretty cute, but today there was more to it. She had a gorgeous lilac winter dress, tight in a way that brought out her great figure, a cute Raspberry-shade jacket, and matching boots. Her long blonde hair seemed to have an extra shine to it, and she had a thin purple line on her eyelid that went so well with her brown eyes.

"Riley, Uh- Hi," Michael said, surprised that she was there.

"Hi," she said, uncomfortable.

"Hi everybody," a grinning Jess said.

"Hi, Jess, you seem upbeat today…" I said.

"Well, I have a good reason," she said, looking at Michael, who just stared blankly at Riley. "Michael…tell them," Jess nudged him.

"What?" he looked at her, "Oh. Umm… Erm… Jess and I were just talking… After school… And she asked…" he said.

"We're official!" Jess announced, cheerfully, "We're girlfriend and boyfriend!"

I looked at Michael, shocked.

Jess gave Michael a kiss on his cheek, but he seemed frozen. In fact, I think Jess was the only one to make any movement, or sound, for about a minute.

"I think I should go…" Riley said, "I just remembered I have homework…"

That was the lamest excuse she could've come up with, Riley never has homework, she does her own stuff at school and she's so far beyond her class, she's already taken some of her finals and is about to finish them all this year.

"Congratulations," she said, and hurried out.

I shook my head at Michael, unable to understand why he did that.

Boys are idiots.

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_

 _ **#Don'tkillme - The writer does not think boys are idiots :)**_

 _ **#Don'tkillme - To paraphrase Galinda (where are my Wicked fans at?) "(We've) got an awfully long way to go..."**_


	16. Persister'

_**A/N: Time for a new chapter!**_

 _ **After posting the last chapter I realized maybe I should've added another #Don'tkillme, because this one doesn't have anything about Michael and Jess. There will be in the next chapter. I alternate so that htere's not too much about a certain pair of characters or a certain family in a row. So #Don'tkillme.**_

 _ **A note that I've already made before, but is especially relevant for this chapter: The story is written from characters' POVs. This means there is not really a "voice of truth" or "right/wrong". The views and choices made represent what the characters think is right.**_

 _ **Thanks to all who read, review, favorited, and follow. I love reading your thoughts. Special thanks to by great beta reader joyteach.**_

 _ **The Big Bang Theory does not belong to me (but to Lorre and Prady), I just like it's characters very much and love taking them in different directions than those taken by the show, now more than ever. I only own my dear OCs, and to a cetain extent these versions of Halley and Michael.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 16: 'Persister'**

 _August, 2032._

 _[Leonard.]_

Penny and I were having a very nice evening. We weren't on a date, a vacation, or anything like that. In fact, we were working, at the fund. But it was a very enjoyable type of work – we were finalizing our plans for our beginning of school year event, next week. This was the second time we would hold such an event, but it was much more exciting than last year's. This time, we had such wonderful lectures and activities planned, we were really excited about it. And we actually had more volunteers than we could fit in, so many that we had to choose which ones would be part of the big event, and schedule the rest for the rest of the week, announcing the entire week as "special".

I sat back and looked at the full schedule, projected on the big screen in Penny's office, grinning. "This is amazing."

Penny grinned back, "It is. Look at all these names, it's like the VMA of science."

I furrowed my eyebrows, not knowing what that meant. Penny rolled her eyes with a smile, knowing exactly what my expression meant.

"This will be great for the fund," I said.

Penny nodded.

"But it's also an indication of how great we're doing. Think about it, would you have imagined, two years ago, that we'd get all these people to volunteer for our little fund? I sure wouldn't. Do you realize what's become of this fund in just two years? We have at least one lecture a day, various activities, the new chemistry simulators, and a decent number of regular donors. Over these two years we've had over 40,000 visitors of various ages, still mostly of higher social class, but we'll get there, and we've hired 28 new employees since opening. That's amazing," I marveled.

"It is. I didn't even realize how much," Penny said, as amazed as me.

"And all because of you."

Penny rolled her eyes, "Oh come on, Leonard, I'm just the one who does the day-to-day work, you know I couldn't do any of this without you."

"I did do my part as The Number Wizard," I grinned, smugly, "and this has the great 'Leonard Hofstadter' name on it, that's like 'George Lucas'," I wiggled my eyebrows.

Penny narrowed her eyes, smiling.

"Madonna?"

She snickered.

"But I stand by my words. This is all because of you. No one could appeal to people like you do, whether it is to give a lecture or lead an activity, to donate, or to visit or send their students. The fund would be nothing without that."

"Well, I _am_ a delight," she grinned.

I chuckled, "As long as they know you're married… I don't want a pack of short, pale, wheezy scientists snooping around you."

"Nah, I've already got one of those," she winked. "Although, mine won't watch 'The Bachelor' with me anymore, maybe I should take him to the store, have them take a look," she stuck out her tongue and gave me her cheeky smile.

Just then, we heard a knock on the door. "Leonard? Penny?" we heard Holly, our main secretary, from behind the door. After more than two years working for us, she finally started calling us by our first names, as we asked, but she still tends to stay long hours even though she knows we can't pay overtime, because we promise donors to keep our administrative expenses minimal.

"Come in," Penny called.

Holly came in, her phone in hand, looking very troubled.

"Is something wrong?" I asked.

Holly took a breath, and projected from her phone. It was an article on 'Duck News', one of the biggest news outlets in the US. Seeing the title, I completely understood Holly's demeanor. 'The Science of Self-Interest: Caltech's VP's Shameless Abuse of Power'. That did not look good, at all.

I was hoping it may not be that bad, headlines are usually overly dramatic. I was wrong. The article cited an allegedly 'reliable source' saying I was using my position as vice president of a highly prestigious university to benefit the fund 'that bears his name and pays his wife'. It said I promised funding, promotions and other benefits to those in the university who would volunteer at the fund, and that the people at Caltech know that those who refuse may suffer consequences. Then it said that it was no wonder that 31% of the volunteers at the fund were Caltech workers or grad students. The article concluded saying 'Hopefully, this important revelation will put a quick end to Professor Leonard Hofstadter's disgraceful affairs, before he keeps hurting the good names of both Caltech and his family, which consists of many high achieving, generous benefactors who use their gift of superior intellect to contribute to science and society.'

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Penny shouted, furiously, when she finished reading.

I could see Holly jump at that in the corner of my eye. I just sat there, speechless, frozen.

"WHERE THE HELL DID THESE EFFIN' BASTARDS GET ALL THIS EFFIN' NONSENSE FROM?!" she kept shouting, and started pacing. "I'm gonna go Nebraska on them. I'm gonna go Nebraska on them so hard, that they'll see what suffering consequences really means!"

"Holly?" I turned to the frightened, helpless young woman.

"Yes, Professor Hofstad- I mean, Leonard?"

"You're not supposed to be working at this hour, but would you please do us a favor and call 'Duck News', and ask for the journalist's number?" I asked.

"Yes, and then give it to us so we can make her regret the day she was born!" Penny said.

"And then call her yourself and find out where she got her information from," I corrected.

"What?! Leonard!" Penny protested.

"Penny, Honey," I stood up and put my hands on her shoulders, looking her in the eye. "These things should be done with a clean, calm head," I said, building on my experience dealing with too many Caltech physicist shenanigans that made it to the media, when I was chairman. "We need to go home, calm down and think very carefully how to deal with this."

That turned out not so easy. As soon as we walked out the door, dozens of microphones were shoved in front of us, and questions and flashes started coming from every direction. This was apparently much more interesting for the press than the time Raj tried to rap-battle Neil DeGrasse Tyson.

It was all so overwhelming, I could barely make out anything that was said. I do remember someone asking "Is it true that Mrs. Hofstadter takes 25% of the money? And that you're planning to use it to buy an island to run to after everything blows up?"

"WHAT?! I don't take any money! I'm not getting paid!" Penny shouted back, but I don't know if anybody could hear her amidst all the noise.

"So your husband is taking advantage of you? Like a slave?" the woman closest to us asked.

"What?!" I responded, "NO!" Penny answered at the same time, "It's volunteer work! And it's both our fund!" she tried to explain.

But the shower of questions and flashes did not cease, if anything, it intensified.

I took Penny's hand, making her look at me. With my eyes, I sent her the message. She nodded. At that, we walked straight to the line we called, that was waiting for us just behind all the reporters, keeping our mouths shut and our faces straight.

Getting close to home, we heard the shouting of many people. We became increasingly worried, figuring out what we feared indeed had happened – there were reporters outside our house, where the kids were all by themselves. Now that Riley's 13, and more than responsible enough, we've started letting her be in charge, like she'd been asking for years. We sure didn't think a situation like this would happen.

But there was another noise, besides the shouts. It sounded like something flowing. And now that we were getting closer, the shouts sounded like more like arguing and cries of surprise and complaint.

Getting off the line, we could not believe what we were seeing. Sheldon was standing on a ladder right in front of his house and spraying about a dozen reporters with a hose!

"Sir, you are a nutjob! I'm gonna write all about this! I've got your picture! Maybe they'll even let me report in video! I work for 'F! News'! You have no idea how many subscribers we have on Youtube!" a tall, young man yelled at Sheldon.

"It's Doctor, _Sir_ ," Sheldon huffed, "Doctor Sheldon Cooper. And I will be glad to teach your subscribers a lesson on standing up against rude harassers such as yourself!" he sprayed directly at the man.

"Sir- I'm sorry, Doctor, for the last time, we're not looking for you, we're here for the Hofstadters," a woman tried a more peaceful approach.

"Irrelevant. Your presence near my house is disturbing me, and bad behavior should be punished. As a matter of fact, you should be thanking me. I am teaching you an important lesson in social behavior," Sheldon responded.

Penny and I were laughing our asses off.

"God, I love this freak!" Penny said, shaking her head.

"If you don't have a watchdog, have a crazy neighbor," I shrugged.

Taking advantage of Sheldon distracting and chasing off the reporters, we sneaked into our house.

"Daddy!" Riley called as soon as I came through the door, and all three of our kids ran to hug us. It was clear from their faces they already knew about the article.

"What is going on? Why are they doing this to you?" Riley asked, upset.

Penny, who still had her arms around her, kissed the side of her head and said, "We don't know honey, but we will find out."

I sat on the couch, picking up Sophie, who wouldn't let go of me, and setting her beside me, giving her a 'Sophie hug', protective, warm and tight. I knew she would be very stressed and scared. "It will be okay, guys," I said, "These are all just crazy lies, we've got the truth on our side, we'll take care of it."

That seemed to set Maxi in action, "So what's the plan? What to do? Should I write this down? I can make a slide!" he said, looking from me to Penny several times. Lately, since I showed him a little of how I make presentations, slides have been his solution to everything.

"Chubby, Chubby," I said, to calm him down, " _We_ will take care of it, Mommy and I."

Riley chimed in, "But, Daddy, we can help, it's the _Hofstadter_ fund, it's all of us."

Sophie looked up at me and nodded.

"Yeah, and I'm not chubby," Maxi said.

"No," Penny said, "This is grownup business, you should not get involved. And listen, if anyone tries to involve you, asking you questions or asking that you say something, you remain quiet, okay?"

The kids reluctantly agreed.

The next day, I was glad to see no reporters outside our house, not in the morning and not when I came back from work. There were some when I got to work, but at the end of the day they weren't there anymore, probably understanding that as in the morning, I wouldn't say a thing.

"Hey," I said to Penny, as I came in. She was cutting a banana, to put in two bowls with yogurt and other fruit she had next to her on the counter. I guessed they were for the girls, Maxi doesn't like this yogurt.

"Hey," she stopped what she was doing and came to me, a worried expression on her face. "How are you?" she asked as she hugged me, and then leaned back and gave me a quick kiss.

"Fine… Tired. But it wasn't as bad as it could have been. I didn't see any reporters here, were there any?"

"No. Just endless phone calls. That's why I disconnected the land line," she nodded toward the phone, "Why do we have this thing anyway?"

I shrugged. "Well, that's good. Poor Dylan had to deal with those who got my office number." Yeah, that was probably the worst work day ever for my poor secretary.

"Leonard, what about _you?_ " Penny asked as she approached the couch, wanting a real answer to her question.

I sighed as I sat next to her. "I got non-stop emails and phone calls, apparently someone got my cellphone number. That was very annoying, but not too bad. I got people around me all day, mostly new PhDs and grad students, who thought the benefits thing is true. They kept suggesting lectures such as 'How to make robots dance?' or 'Advances in reduction of unburnt volatiles and gasification products escaping out of fuel reactors when using solid fuels in Chemical Looping Combustion', which they would adjust to the general public by 'adding pictures. And jokes!' Then President Sommers called me in. She said she knows everything that's been published is completely false and that she is very sorry for me and hopes everything will be soon cleared up, but, it is hurting the university's reputation. She said they may have to have me stay home for a few days, while they go out and say they're investigating the allegations," I sighed again and shook my head, "I can't believe this."

Penny sighed, "Me neither. We did _nothing_ wrong. We always make sure Caltech volunteers know there's nothing in it for them. And if those people knew you, they would know that you threatening anyone is just ridiculous."

I nodded. "Hey, did Holly find out who this 'source' was?"

"No," Penny shook her head, "the journalist wouldn't say, not even when I called and yelled at her."

I nodded.

"Leonard, I think we should publish an official response, right now we're not making any progress in finding the source of this sh**, and the more time passes the more people will believe it's all true," Penny said.

"Yeah," I nodded, "Let's do it now. I'll go take that up to the girls," I nodded toward the bowls, "And then we'll start."

I walked quietly to Riley's room, hearing the girls' voices from there. I'm not proud of eavesdropping, but the quiet, serious tones worried me.

"And then Jennifer Ross-Turner told Mia she shouldn't be friends with me anymore because I won't take her to the island we're escaping to, because we only think about ourselves," Sophie said, in a soft, shaky voice. I didn't have to see her to know she had tears in her eyes.

"Yeah, I had that crazy island thing thrown at me too," Riley said, in a sad voice.

My heart was breaking. I would take millions of reporters firing questions at me everywhere I went, millions of defaming articles, videos, let them make a movie about the corrupt physicist if they wanted to, but I would not stand anybody hurting my kids.

"And if they do this to us, what are they gonna do to Dad? What if people boo him in the street? And throw stuff at him? What if they fire him?" Sophie wondered.

"No, this cannot happen, Daddy doesn't deserve any of this!" Riley said decisively, "He's the hero, not the villain! We have to do something to make the truth come out."

"Yes," Sophie responded, "We have to-"

Not wanting my daughters to take matters into their own hands, I interrupted. "Sophie?" I called, pretending to be looking for her in her room.

There was a silent moment, then Sophie showed up in Riley's doorway, a pretty convincing smile on her lips, but clear redness in her eyes, "Here," she said.

"Oh, hi Princess," I said and walked toward Riley's room, "I came to bring you the yogurt and fruit Mom has made you," I gave her one bowl, and passed my hand over her head.

"Thank you," she smiled.

"Hi Cub," I said as I entered the room.

Riley got up from her bed, a less convincing smile on her face, but not much redness in her eyes, "Daddy," she said, trying, and not really succeeding, to fake her usual excitement at seeing me. She came for a side-hug, which I returned with my free hand.

"Here you go," I gave her the bowl.

"Thank you," Riley smiled.

I looked at them, sitting on the bed, eating silently with their fake smiles on. "Girls," I said, getting their attention, "We will take care of this. Whatever it takes."

They nodded.

Penny immediately realized something was wrong when she saw me, but I insisted I'd tell her later. I knew she would get too upset to write the response, or at least a publishable one. After some back and forth, she gave up.

"Okay," Penny sighed, "let's respectfully and articulately tear them apart."

We were writing our first sentence, when my video-call tone sounded. Since I had managed to block all calls from unrecognized numbers earlier today, I knew this had to be one of my contacts. But I certainly did not expect that one.

"Hello, Mother," I said, suspiciously, as her figure appeared on the screen projected in front of us.

"Hello, Leonard," she said, "Penny."

"Hi, Beverly, listen, this is kind of an inconvenient time-" Penny started, but was cut off.

"Yes, I am aware you are in the middle of a public crisis. This is the reason I am calling you. Your crisis appears to have undesired effects on me. This morning I was gathering my belongings after giving a lecture at an event at NYU, when suddenly a young PhD asked me how I was feeling, due to my son being 'so viciously libeled' by the media. To add to that, I have heard that Sheldon has been affected as well, having to deal with appallingly rude disturbances," my mother said.

"So…?" I asked.

"So I called to demand that you keep your scandals to yourselves."

I leaned back and sighed. This woman is unbelievable.

"Oh I'm so sorry, Beverly," Penny said sarcastically, obviously mad, "Next time we'll ask the people who disgrace us to mention that you and Sheldon should not be disturbed by the media and by nice, thoughtful people."

"I do not understand the need to be snarky. If you cannot deal with criticism of your corrupt actions, do not do them," she said.

"WHAT?!" I yelled, sitting up. "Do you seriously believe what they say?"

"I don't see a reason why Michael would say you were doing those things, if you didn't," she said, calmly.

"Wait, Michael?! He was the one who said that?!" I asked, shocked. To clarify, she was talking about my younger brother, Michael, not Wolowitz's kid. The best way to describe my brother is 'a pompous, arrogant ass'. But why would he do that?

"Oh, apparently you did not know that. Oh, well," my mother shrugged dryly, "My point still stands. Michael did not have a reason to say those things if they weren't true. I have no reason to doubt my son."

I didn't have any words to respond to that. I sat there with my eyes open wide and my jaw dropped.

"You don't have a- to _doubt_ _your son?!_ You don't have a reason to-" Penny was so infuriated that she had trouble making up her sentence.

Seeing that this was going nowhere, I ended the call.

I leaned back again, forcefully, exasperated. I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples for a good couple of minutes. I imagine Penny was doing something similar, as I did not hear a thing.

That was until I heard Riley's voice, "Mom? Daddy?"

Penny and I turned to see the kids walking down the stairs.

"We're going to the Cooper-Fowlers'," she said.

"Uncle Sheldon called an extra lecture on the beginnings of Super Asymmetry," Sophie added.

Maxi nodded along to what they were saying.

Sheldon gives the kids of the gang lectures once a month. Supposedly, this is to teach them "exquisite scientific knowledge of high importance, that really should have been part of every school's curriculum." This is Sheldon-ese for his own work and work that is essential for understanding it. It being Sheldon, these lectures are scheduled, never spontaneous, but we had so much on our minds that we decided not to check into it and let them go.

We waited a few minutes until they'd left, and then video-called my brother. He was his regular ass, sitting back with his arms crossed, looking down, with the smuggest smile on his face. As it turned out, this journalist was interviewing him about a big donation he had made to open a new public school in a poor neighborhood, that, of course, will be named 'The Professor Michael Hofstadter School of Excellence and Ingenuity'. She mentioned our fund, and Michael responded with all that crap about me. When I asked why on earth he would do that, his response was a smiling "Come on, of course you did that. You're Leonard, you don't just succeed like that." Penny started yelling insults at him, but he just sat there and laughed, which only drove her to be more angry. Seeing that, I hung up on him.

As I sat there, quietly, processing another major disappointment by my family of origin, Penny paced around the living room. After a few minutes like that, she came to stand by my side. Raising my head, I saw her looking down at me, crossing her arms. "So which news company do we start with? I don't want to give 'Duck' the pleasure. We have to think which one will come at them the worst way possible. Man, he's a law professor! This is going to be so good!" she started smiling a sly smile, "We're going to destroy the jealous rat! He will never dare to smile that scumbag's smile again! Come on, they're your family, you choose, what are we gonna do to them?"

I looked into her expectant eyes, "Nothing."

"What?" Penny asked, probably thinking she may have heard me wrong.

"We're not going to do anything to them. We're going to keep doing our own thing, keep up with our good, decent work, and leave them to their business."

"Leonard, are you being serious?!" she asked, shocked.

"Penny," I stood up in front of her and took her hands, trying to calm her down, "You know me. I'm not a fighter. I'm not one to go into a heated battle, fighting 'til the bitter end, 'til those who'd hurt me pay. I persist. I'm.. a 'persister'. I've been getting crap from my family my whole life. And from my classmates. And random kids at school. And whatever jerk on the street thinking I should be punished for just being the way I am." Seeing her get sad at that, I squeezed her hands, "But I keep going. That's my thing. I keep doing my own thing, keep going my own way, no matter what they do or say."

"But, Leonard…" she said softly, with a pleading look.

"They can be the greatest rats, scumbags, asses, there's ever been. That's on them. To me, keeping up in our way, in spite of whoever, or whatever's in it, that's our win."

About an hour later we were working on our response to the media, when Sheldon texted in the gang's group chat for us to open one of several popular media sites he'd listed. It was odd, but the text said 'right now', so we did.

We were in for another surprise, no less surprising than the others we've had over the last 24 hours. A live stream had just started. A live stream broadcast from a place we instantly recognized – the Cooper-Fowler house. A live stream whose participants were no other than our own kids. All eight of them. The entire gang's. They were all either sitting or standing by Sheldon and Amy's dining table (with Sophie peeking from behind Riley). Three microphones were spread on the table, as if it was a press conference (only the microphones were Lizzie's, and so each was a pink or light blue shade and had either unicorns or Disney princesses on it).

We were so shocked, I think for practically the entire stream we remained wide-eyed, speechless, and frozen in our positions, Penny with her hand over her mouth, me with my head slouched forward.

Riley, sitting in the middle, opened the "event", announcing that they'd called an urgent live stream to mend a severe injustice. "Over the last day there has been a lot of false information spread by the media. We're here to present to you all the relevant, true data we've collected, and the telling analyses we've made. You can check all of it by yourselves, Caltech is willing to provide all information here that's not available online, and everything about 'The Hofstadter Fund' is available to all," she said.

What followed was quite a serious presentation, with the participation of the entire group. Riley was the one to explain the logic and meaning of the information and analyses. Michael was more of a comedic side-kick. Halley stressed the important arguments, like a lawyer making her winning arguments in court. Stephen read, or more like recited, the long numbers. Sophie and Kotie pointed out relevant sections on the screen. Maxi and Lizzie passed along the microphones, after saying the topics to be discussed by the next speakers, like some kind of panel moderators.

To be honest, I'm not sure we would've done a better job making our arguments. They did fantastic. They started by showing the fund's participation form, the one we sign every person up on before they lecture or lead an activity. They brought attention to the part that clearly states participation is voluntary and no benefits should be expected in return. Then, they showed there was no correlation, meaning no relationship, between the number of lectures or activities Caltech workers did for the fund, and grants, promotions, coverage of travel expenses to prestigious conventions, or anything else that could be considered benefits given in Caltech. The same was true for possible negative actions by the university, no relationship between those and volunteering at the fund.

Then, Riley made the point that a good scientist should consider alternative explanations.

"Exactly!" Sophie said, with a nod, and then hurried to hide behind Riley again.

Riley suggested that another explanation would be that those who work in Caltech live close to the fund, and so they are more available to volunteer. To support this hypothesis, they showed that approximately 82% of those who'd volunteered live in California, and that in the holidays and semester breaks there was a majority of non-Californian volunteers. I couldn't be more proud.

After that, they accepted questions, through, I believe, a live group-chat with reporters. There weren't many questions. Most were on how to get to the data they had used.

Then, a man said, "We were contacted by Doctor Sheldon Lee Cooper, who I have learned is a notable Caltech physicist. Yet Doctor Cooper is not on screen. Does this mean he does not support your message?"

"That is ridiculous," Sheldon's voice sounded, apparently from behind the camera. He took the camera and turned it to him, "I did not participate because your simpletons' media outlets do not deserve the honor that is my presence."

"So you do not believe that Professor Hofstadter has taken advantage of his position?" a woman's voice sounded.

"Of course not," Sheldon said, as if it was obvious, "I would have to be a complete fool to believe that. One should shape their expectations according to previous observations. The allegations against Leonard are highly inconsistent with everything I have observed of him for the last 29 years. If I believed those allegations, I would be as foolish as he was when he thought he could have a slice of cheesecake without suffering highly uncomfortable consequences from his bowels, as if he hadn't missed half of Comic-Con 2007 due to a medium cup of chocolate ice cream. Dozens of trips to the bathroom, and for a wrong flavor, no less," Sheldon shook his head.

That's, I think, was when I started moving again, scrunching my face with my eyes closed, out of embarrassment. I heard Penny chuckle, and felt her hand go up and down my back.

"And what about the Hofstadters themselves and the parents of the rest of the children, why did they decide to send their kids to the front without even showing their own faces?" the man's voice sounded again.

"They did not," Sheldon answered. "They did not know about this."

"Wait, so you don't have their permission to film and broadcast their kids?" a woman asked.

"We did not have time for their silly qualms," Sheldon answered.

"Doctor Cooper, we cannot transmit this without parental consent," the woman said.

"Drat," Sheldon said, and quickly turned the camera to Lizzie. "Lizzie, say something," he said to his daughter.

"Uncle Leonard is as wonderful as the Higgs Boson!" she chirped, with a cheerful jump, throwing her hands up.

Then, the screen turned black and the site was back to its usual design.

We didn't want our kids involved in this. We will also have to, again, have a talk with Sheldon about parents' rights over their children. Apparently the Thor's hammer analogy didn't work after all. But in that moment, we felt relieved, and supported. There may have been obstacles in our way, but there were also others helping us to keep going. We will persist.


	17. Let me in

_**A/N:**_

 _ **So when I started this I mentioned how chapters may differ in style. I think this is the greatest departure from other chapters in style, or more like genre. This chapter is sad. Not a major tragedy, but there is sadness there, there's something sad that happens in life. It fits the FF category of "Hurt/Comfort". You've been warned. You can skip this though, it won't make a major difference. If you don't want to read the sad part just stop at the part where the day "took a giant turn".**_

 _ **Note that there are bigger time jumps now, this chapter takes place about 6 months after the previous one (and almost 2 years after Michael's previous one).**_

 _ **Thanks to all who read, follow, favorited, reviewed. I love reading your thoughts, even if it's a long time after the chapter was published. Special thanks to my great beta joyteach.**_

 _ **The Big Bang Theory belongs to Lorre and Prady, I'm just grateful for FF where I can take their characters in the directions I like. All OCs here are mine.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 17: Let me in**

 _February, 2033._

 _[Michael.]_

It was a very nice day, one of those that's much more spring than winter. Jess and I took advantage of it and went for a walk in the park. I know this sounds like an old person thing, but after some time you get tired of going out to the same restaurants or to the movies again, even the interactive movie theater. We'd already been to the shopping center that week, we couldn't stay at her house 'cause her parents had guests, and whenever we stay in mine my dad snoops around. Besides, it was kinda romantic, just walking around, holding hands, at sunset. I figured we would eventually find a corner to sit and exchange some saliva. There was this new tongue move I wanted to try.

Oh wait, you're probably confused, I have to catch you up on some things. It's been quite some time since I last talked to you. You see, Jess, one of the girls who've been on my gang from school since seventh grade, she's now my girlfriend. We've been dating for a bit over a year now.

I know this may sound confusing, 'cause back then I had started questioning my feelings for Riley. Well, it may be more confusing if I tell you that I did realize I had feelings for Riley, deep feelings. I still do. If anything, they've only gotten stronger. But, she's Riley. She's brilliant, inventive, extremely kind, and always fun. She's way above my league. It's not that I think low of myself, I got things going for me, but I'm not at her level. If I tried to make a move, it's like 90% she'd turn me down. My dad says I should try to hit on every girl I want (if I'm single), even if she's out of my league. If it doesn't work, I should just forget about her and move on. But I can't forget about Riley, I can't move on. I don't want to. She's one of the most important people in my life, I can't take the risk of losing her, it's _way_ too big a risk. I can't imagine life without Riley. I'd much rather have her as my best friend than try to take it further and lose her forever.

While I was coming to accept that I had to give up on Riley, Jess was starting to get closer to me. She was being flirty, I noticed, and we got to have more and more alone time, I guess she arranged for it to happen. I didn't do much about it, but as time passed we got closer and closer, and then she asked me to be her boyfriend. Even though I knew she was aiming for that, it took me by surprise that day, when she went ahead and asked. Then I thought, I will never be with Riley, so it would be kinda stupid to just wait around for nothing, I might as well start dating. And I like Jess. I do. She's really pretty, she has long blonde hair, a little wavy, a very cute face and a great body. She always smells like flowers, it's a nice smell, less sweet than that vanilla-apple-coconut-whatever mix Riley gets from all the stuff she puts on (I stopped following), but I like it. She's nice, she's easy-going, and she likes clothes shopping and suit shopping, it's fun to do that with her. I think she kisses good, but I have no comparison. And she's okay with me playing video games, I heard some girls aren't. And she gets along with Riley, which was a relief because I didn't want to cut down on my time with Riley, so now we sometimes hang together, although I'd rather be with each of them alone.

So back to that day. Jess and I were walking in the park at sunset, holding hands.

"Look at those flowers," she said, nodding toward a bunch of pink flowers, planted by a trail that went up a small hill, to the right of the main way.

"They look nice," I smiled, "hey, they kinda match your outfit," I chuckled. She had a bright green shirt and a pink jacket over it, and pink shoes beneath her jeans.

"You're right," she chuckled, "Hey let's go take a picture."

We went by the flowers and took some pictures, standing up or sitting on the bench there. Jess started looking over the pictures, choosing one to post, when we heard a big burp coming from the main path. It was some boys, about our age, having a burping competition.

I chuckled, but was a little grossed out. "Wanna go that way?" I asked Jess, pointing to the upper trails. It's a longer way, but they reach the exit too.

"Oh please, you don't have to pretend for me," Jess said, "You probably do this too when I'm not around. When you're with Ramzi, or Ned, or Riley, it's probably burping and fart-noises all the time," she snickered.

I furrowed my eyebrows, "Well I think it's kinda stupid. But Ned does sometimes start stuff like that, your cousin is disgusting," Jess nodded to that, "But why would I do that with Riley?!"

"I dunno, 'cause she's your 'budd', like Ned is," she answered.

"What does her being my friend have to do with it? Riley hates that stuff. If I ever did something like that next to her, she'd be so grossed out, she probably wouldn't talk to me for like a week," I chuckled, "One time Ned sent me a video he said was funny when I was at Riley's, we clicked and it was full of vomiting, peeing, stuff like that. You should've seen how scrunched up her face was. She barely even saw anything, she only peeked through her fingers and she begged me to stop it. It was just like two minutes but she ran to her soaps, oils, creams, all that stuff, she's got tons of them."

"Really?" Jess asked.

"Yeah, what's so surprising about that?" I said.

"I dunno, it's just, I know she's not trans or anything, but she's kinda like a boy," she shrugged, "you know, with the video games and the comics and all that stuff and with the way she dresses and how she doesn't care about clothes and stuff. It's like God had a bit of a mix up there when he assigned souls. Maybe there's a nerdy boy somewhere who thinks he's prom queen," she chuckled.

I furrowed my eyebrows, "What? Why?"

"Well, it may not be noticeable at first, but she's actually really pretty."

Man, good thing Riley wasn't there. That's exactly why she hates being told that she's pretty. "Just because she's so beautiful doesn't mean she has to be prom queen or a cheerleader or whatever," I said, a bit angrily, I admit, "She's also a brilliant genius, and many other things, she's gonna be something big."

Jess was taken aback, "Hey, I didn't mean to say something bad, you know I like her."

There was a bit of uncomfortable silence. But I stand by what I said, I wouldn't take it back, she was in the wrong. Eventually, she changed the subject, talking about the preparations for her mom's 50th birthday, and the tension faded away.

But then, that nice day took a giant turn.

We were leaving the park, when my phone rang. It was a voice-call from my dad.

"Hey Dad, what's up?" I asked, curious. Voice-calls from him are rare, if he wants to check on me, he texts.

"Michael, I need you to come home," he said, sounding serious.

"Why? Are you gathering the forces for a secret mission? Are we taking over Canada?" I joked, trying to lighten the mood. His tone made me nervous.

"Michael, come home, okay?"

"Okay," I said, sheepishly. That did not sound good.

I said goodbye to Jess and hurried home, trying to think of how it could turn out to be a good thing. Maybe it was good news, and he wanted to see my reaction when I found out. Maybe he needed help with something, and he sounded serious because he was tired or dropped something on himself again or something. Maybe he was just pranking me.

But as soon as I entered the house, I knew I was wrong. Dad seemed very serious. He told me to sit down and wait for Halley, who was on her way from cheerleading practice. He wouldn't give me a hint about what happened, he just kept saying we were waiting for Halley. When I asked where Mom was, he said she was upstairs, but that I shouldn't go. He wouldn't say why.

Halley came in after a few minutes, but it felt like forever. She seemed as confused and scared as I was. Dad told her to sit down next to me, and answered her questions about Mom the same way.

After Halley sat down, Dad sat on the sofa to our right. He took a breath, clasped his hands together, and said it straightforward, "Kids, your grandfather died."

"What?" Halley said, "No," she had a slight smile, out of disbelief.

Dad nodded.

Halley stood up. I heard her take a few steps behind the couch and then stop. Dad got up, and when I turned my head I saw him hug her.

I sat there, just, sat there. I couldn't say anything. I couldn't do anything. I couldn't think anything. I just sat there, tears rolling down my face in silence.

Mom did not come out of her and Dad's room that day. Grandpa Mike was her dad. She loved him so much and she always looked up to him, that's why she named me after him. She had a reason, Grandpa always seemed like he could do anything, and beat anyone that dare come at him. But he also cared, I knew that, he always made sure to see us at least every other week.

I knocked on Mom's door once, asking if I could go in, but she said that it was okay, and I should go to sleep. It was 19:30. Dad said she needed time. She did let him go in.

Halley was running around doing, I don't know what she was doing. One moment she was going over Mom's childhood pictures, the next she was listing every repair work Grandpa ever did in our house. Then, she kept pushing me to remember everything I ever did with him when she wasn't there, in detail.

I didn't know what to do. I kept going to my parents' door, only to come back to my room knowing Mom wouldn't let me in. I thought about talking to Dad, but figured if he was the only one Mom let in he'd better be with her.

I wanted to go to Riley's, but I also didn't want to leave my family. So I kept texting with her for hours, although it was all about how I didn't know what to do. Or say, or think. I did know what to feel. A big BLUGH. I felt sadness, and anger, and also regret, about every time I went somewhere else instead of going to visit Grandpa and Grandma. But mostly, I felt lost.

The next day was the funeral. It was when we headed out that Mom finally came out of the room. Her eyes were puffy and tired and she was pale. She looked like a mess. I'd never seen my mom like that. But she wasn't crying, she kept a straight face.

"Mom…" I tried to approach her when she passed by me.

"It's okay, Mikey, we should go," she said, stopping for a minute, but not looking at me.

There were lots of people at the funeral. My mom has a big family, lots of brothers and lots of uncles and cousins. There were also Grandpa's friends from the police, he was a retired policeman. They reminded me of him, tough and silent.

Actually, that was also true of my mom. She was silent for most of it. My uncles - her brothers, and Grandma, they cried together. But Mom, all she did was give them sad smiles. She did lean on Dad, she did cry into his shoulder, and she did hug Grandma. But, to me she just seemed so alone.

At least I wasn't totally alone this time. Halley did not have anything to do now, so she was lost as well. We were alone and lost together.

We ended up learning more about Grandpa's death through all the whispering around. Halley's good at picking those things up. It turns out he had heart and blood pressure problems for years, but he didn't want to tell anyone. Only Grandma knew. I couldn't understand why he did that, and apparently my mom felt the same. After the whole thing ended and people started going away, I heard her ask Grandma that.

"We could've helped! I could've gotten him the best doctors around here! I could've found the best medicines for him, or even made something better!" she said, with some anger, not really at Grandma.

"Bernadette, darling," Grandma put her hands on Mom's face and wiped some of her tears, "you did more than enough. You made your father so proud. You showed him what a winner he'd brought up. You gave him two wonderful grandchildren and you are such a successful career woman. He even got to see you get yourself a position made just for you, Superior Research Manager. He was so happy that day. He was a strong man, darling, you know that. He wanted to keep his strong outside, even on his last day."

After that they went to gather everything, to prepare to leave. Halley quickly joined them. Most people had left by that time. But I just sat there. Still not knowing what to do.

It was then that Jess came and stood by me. I didn't even know she was there. Come to think about it, I don't think I even told her my Grandpa died.

She said something about it being hard to reach me, something about all the people. Then she started asking if I wanted to do things, like walking outside or going somewhere, or for her to sit with me, and some other stuff. I don't really remember, it was like a blur. I didn't know what I wanted. I just sat there looking down and heard parts of the words and sentences she was saying, that I couldn't piece together. There was something with "let me in", I think, but I don't know where she wanted to be let in to. Maybe also a "tell me", and the word "help" was repeated several times.

Then I felt some movement on the bench, next to me. I turned my head and saw Riley sitting there, by my side. She didn't say anything. She just looked me in the eyes, and I looked in hers. They seemed to say 'I know', and 'I'm here' and 'I'm with you'. Or maybe I was just imagining, can you really get all that from two big, watery eyes? Then she hugged me, a tight hug, which I returned. After some time like that she softened the hug, and I followed. She then did something she'd never done before. She laid her head on my shoulder, and her hand on the back of my head. She caressed it very gently, passing her fingers through my hair. Not to sound cheesy, but it was like we "melted" into each other. I get why people say that now. That's how it felt.

That was when for the first time since I' d gotten the news of my grandpa dying, I didn't feel lost. I didn't feel restless, or confused. The tears that rolled down my face finally felt.. 'right', like they were doing something, like I was grieving, for real. And I felt that, not the next day or week but some time, things would be fine again.

It was a quiet evening at home. Each of us went about our business, quietly, mostly in our rooms. But this time Mom stayed in the living room, from the time we came back home. I saw her looking at pictures one time when I went to the kitchen. Another time I just peeked from the staircase, and she was doing nothing. I wanted to go to her all the time, but I thought I shouldn't bother because she wouldn't let me. Finally, before I went to sleep, I decided to try again.

I walked down the stairs, seeing her again sitting on the couch, staring at nothing. I went to stand next to the couch, she didn't notice. "Mom," I got her attention.

She looked up at me, her eyes still puffy and way more tired, even though I thought that wasn't possible. "It's okay, Mikey," she said.

I took a breath, "No it's not," I said.

"Well, it will be," she sighed and turned to look straight ahead again, "Go to sleep, honey."

"No," I said, sharply, making her look at me again, surprised. "Stop saying that, I'm not going away! You know, you're just like Grandpa! He- he wanted to be strong outside so bad, that, that he ended up keeping everyone 'outside'! Even his own family, he didn't let anyone in! Maybe just Grandma. I'm your son, Mom, stop pushing me away and let me in!" I said, immediately regretting it.

Mom looked at me, not saying a word.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean-"

"Come here," she said, softly.

I sat next to her, fearing that I'd hurt her badly, and in my head cursing my now deeper voice for making things sound harsher, because I don't sound like a kid anymore.

But then, she pulled me in, hugging me tight. I don't know how long we sat there, hugging and crying together, but eventually she leaned back and put her hand on my cheek, looking me in the eyes, and said, almost commanding, "Don't you ever let me push you away, ever!"


	18. Little woman

_**A/N: It's chapter time, and a special one a that! Today's just a little over a year from the time I published the first chapter of "The Corollary Theory: The Celebration Aberration". While the stories were posted as seperate entities, I count that as the first chapter of Corollary overall. It's also exactly 8 months since I published the first chapter of this story. I didn't plan it this way, but how nice that this one is a Riley POV, just like those two. In both those chapters she was 10, here she's 14, time flies, huh? :)**_

 _ **A small note: While this story is very AU to season 12, I did change Penny's sister's name from Candice to Lisa. I just felt it would be less confusing this way, and I haven't used her much so I thought a name change wouldn't be very disconcerting.**_

 _ **I know I write this every time, but I really mean it, I'm grateful to all who read, favorited, followed, reviewed. I love reading your thoughts and I always respond (unless someone doesn't want me to). Special thanks to my great beta reader joyteach.**_

 _ **The Big Bang Theory belongs to Lorre and Prady. I just own my beloved OCs, and to some extent these versions of Halley and Michael.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 18: Little woman**

 _May, 2033._

 _[Riley.]_

Clothes shopping. One of the things I hate the most. In the world. Going around shelves and stands looking at some pieces of fabric with weird stuff on them and silly writing. Eventually I'm just gonna go for comfy hoodies and t-shirts, preferably with cool and/or funny writing or drawings related to science or my favorite TV shows and movies, so why bother with all the other stuff?

Besides, I just turned 14, I've been braces-free for eight months now, and in a few months I'm gonna "be" in high-school, which is really just symbolic 'cause I've already finished my finals, I could just graduate and start university if I wanted, I just chose to stay in school. I'm just there, taking every course they have that I hadn't taken to meet graduation requirements, except stuff like woodshop or construction, that is _not for me._ Most of it is advanced placement, but it's pretty boring because they don't let me read my own stuff, I have to study with the rest of the class. At least I still get time to read science journals. Anyway, I'm practically a college student, if I want to wear shirts that have pizza or soy sauce stains on them, I should be able to do so! They're not that big, you can still read the jokes!

But this time I really had no out. As much as I wanted to just go hide behind the dryer (that's the best spot 'cause Mom can't even imagine I fit there), I needed to go this time. Not for the clothes, that was just Mom taking advantage of the opportunity, but for bras. And I couldn't ask her to go buy them for me because these would be my first bras, I needed to go try them on.

I know, it's a little, or not 'a little', late. I may be the last one in my grade to move from tops to bras. Although I did already have my first period, a few months ago, which is not _that_ late. Still, I'm what people call 'a late bloomer'. Or what the girls at school call 'flatsy', 'cardboard', 'pre-schooler' (actually that one they don't really say, that's just the premise for a lot of their jokes). They even said that yesterday, even though my body's already changed, you know in the way it changes when you reach puberty. I guess it's just not that noticeable under my shirts, I like them a little loose, it's more comfortable, and I'm not going to change that just to show some girls I'm going through the biological processes every girl goes through. Well, except for rare cases. And if they laugh at those then they're the ones that have bigger problems, moral ones.

I sometimes wish those girls were more like the boys. I mean, of course not all the girls are like that, obviously not my friends and also not many others who I'm not particularly close to, but none of the boys treat me like that. When we were younger some were umm.. somewhat hostile toward me, because of that urban legend that I think I'm better than others just because I'm a genius (and I repeat, that is not and never has been true!). But about the time we moved to middle school that stopped (just with the boys, not the girls). They started being nice, or just to not really talk to me, but not in a bad, shunning kind of way. Some of them are actually very friendly, even though they're not really my friends. Like Tyresse, this one time I got to the cafeteria after they ran out of apple-pie, and he insisted on giving me his, and sometimes he waits with me for my line home just to chat, and once, his friend stood him up when they were supposed to go to a movie, so he invited me to go, which was perfect because Hiroshi and Thomas were already going. And there's James who always saves me a seat in Calculus 'cause his previous class is in the next room, and he once suggested that we go to a special event at the Griffith Observatory, but I couldn't 'cause it was Valentine's Day and I'd already told my parents I'd watch over Maxi. He said maybe another time. Such friendly boys.

So, umm.. Clothes shopping. Mom said we should leave the bras to the end. I thought it was a strategy to keep me from running away after I chose them, but now I know there was an alternative, or additional, reason. You'll see later, but it also explains why she was sheepish, and took deep breaths every once in a while, when we started walking around the lingerie section of the store.

The first few minutes were confusing. I didn't really know what to do, where to go, and mom wasn't much help, she wasn't really "there". There were many sizes, styles, brands, colors, where was I to start? I looked around, clueless.

Then I saw this neon-pink bra with writing in neon-yellow with bright green sequins framing it. Just looking at it gave me a headache. It was like this girl, Eva-Linn, in a bra. Yes, it's Eva-Linn, not Evelynn. Yes, with an ''I'. She's a ninth-grader. Michael went out with her three times last month. She only moved to 'Grit' this year, but you cannot miss her. Not because she's 5'9, mind you, but because she wears dresses in colors so strong it's like she stole them from a theater, and also wears giant rings and necklaces, which is ironic because her dresses are way too small. She's also very loud, and if that's not enough, there's that clapping and jumping she does all the time. Also, Michael said all she ever talked about was her hair and nails. I don't like being that judgmental, but I just can't think of her as a good person, not after Disability Day at school. There were lectures for all middle and high school students from people with disabilities, and she couldn't shut up. When a teacher hushed her, she said she had all her abilities so why should she listen?

I have absolutely no idea why Michael would go out with someone like that. Thank goodness it's over. If he's going to be with someone else- I mean, with someone other than himself, so, uh, the 'else' is redundant, so- If he's going to be with someone, I hope it's someone like his ex-girlfriend, Jess. I liked her. She is nice and considerate, and we got along. She was never mean to me or to anyone else, and she is definitely more clever and interesting than Eva-Linn. She was also into clothes and hair and all that stuff but that wasn't all she was about, and she didn't dress like Eva-Linn. Besides, Michael likes that stuff too, so it's really very obvious that would be the kind of girl he likes. That's his type.

Sure, it was weird at first when Michael got a girlfriend, but I was fine with it, no, good, I was good with it. But Jess broke up with him two months ago. He said she said she felt she 'wasn't the one who has his heart', and he didn't ask her to elaborate, I don't know why.

"Hello there, may I help you?" a saleslady asked, snapping both Mom and me out of our thoughts. "Are we looking for our first bra?" she smiled.

I heard Mom swallow, "hmhm," she said.

The lady asked me to tighten my shirt for a moment, and then guided us to what she thought would fit me, telling us the size she thought I should try. I waited patiently until she finished talking about the qualities of the brands and the materials they had, and then just took the five bras that were in front of my eyes.

I went in and tried the first one, hearing my mom pacing outside of the changing room. I was proud of myself for getting the hooking right, but the straps were too short and I wasn't sure if and how to change that, so I called, "Mom?"

I didn't even blink and she was right there, "Yes, Baby?"

"Umm I'm not sure about the.." I said, playing with the straps.

"Oh the straps," she put our stuff on the bench and stepped closer, "See that little thingy?" she asked.

"Yes"

"If you move it this way," she said as she did it, "the strap becomes shorter, and if you move it this way," she again did it, this time setting it in a way that was good for me, "it becomes longer."

"Oh," I nodded, "thank you," I said, and turned to the mirror. It looked fine and was fairly comfortable. Shrugging, I said, "I think it's okay."

I then looked up in the mirror, seeing Mom's reflection, as she was standing behind me. She was looking from my back in front of her, to my reflection in the mirror, tearing up.

"Mom, are you okay?" I asked, turning to her.

She wasn't. She started crying, barely squeaking through her cries, "Y- You- You're becoming..- a little woman." Then she practically ran out.

I was completely baffled. I thought about going after her, but I realized I might not find her by the time I'd changed, and I also had all the stuff we were yet to pay for with me, meaning I couldn't leave the store, so I went on to try the other bras.

I asked the saleslady for five boxed bras, three exactly like I'd tried and two other ones that were the same as two I'd tried, just in different colors. It was after getting the boxes and turning around that I saw my mom come back to the store. She hugged me tight, not saying a word. It wasn't the most comfortable thing, given that she practically squeezed me while I had five boxes in my hands, but I was happy she was back.

We paid for our stuff and took a line home, still in silence. If she wasn't going to say anything I sure wasn't, I was more confused than when Aunt Lisa said she'd been riding her (probably now ex?)boyfriend all night. According to Mom, Nebraskans keep playing horse even as adults. Nebraska's weird.

Anyway, things didn't become any clearer when we got home. After putting everything down on the couch, Mom turned to me and smiled. With her eyes watering, she caressed one of my cheeks and kissed my forehead. Then she shrieked, like she does when she's about to cry, and ran upstairs.

"What was that about?" Daddy, who'd just come through the back door, asked.

"I have literally no idea," I said, shaking my head slowly.

Daddy went after Mom, which I suppose was the best that could happen. If he didn't know what to do, I don't know who would.

I went to my room and crashed onto my bed, sighing. I sure hate clothes shopping, but I did not expect that. Did I do something wrong? I don't think I complained more than usual. I didn't even try to sneak out this time. Was it over the line to ask for help trying on bras? But Mom doesn't mind helping me trying on clothes, and she'd tied my bathing suit for me many times, that's about the same, right? She never said that 'little woman' thing when she did that, what was that all about?

Thinking of that, I realized the "You're becoming a little woman" was one of biggest differences between this and every other time we'd been clothes shopping. It wasn't the only difference, and she was tense before that part, but it is what she said right before she left, when I asked if she was okay. It could be the key to understanding the whole thing, or at least _a_ key.

But what did it mean? And why did it happen now? Or did she just notice now? And why would it be so upsetting? And what part of it was upsetting? The becoming? The little? The woman? All of it together?

I sighed. I had so many questions, this was becoming a bigger issue, this was becoming an issue for research. I sat up, 'Yes! Research! That's what I should do!' I realized. More or less formal, this is the way humanity has progressed over the years, research. It is the way we humans answer our big questions, the way Daddy answers his big questions.

First things first, I started a literature search. I turned to Google Scholar and looked up 'Becoming a little woman', eager to see what I'd find. Unfortunately, the results didn't seem relevant to my questions. I found some stuff about a book called 'Little Women', some papers that analyzed old literature, some old stuff about women and careers, some less old stuff about women in STEM careers. The only thing that seemed relevant to me was STEM, but I didn't see how it would relate to bras and upset my mom. I tried omitting the 'little', thinking it might be an unnecessary addition by my mom, she tends to add 'little' (or 'my little') to whatever she calls me. That brought up stuff about gender dysphoria and transsexuals and some stuff about coming-of-age rituals of different cultures. Still not helpful.

The general internet wasn't helpful either. All I found there were some books that described the biological changes that happen through puberty, which I already knew all about. Some of it is kinda gross, but I figured I should learn about it, and not just from a weird old cartoon at school, so I read all about it. Then I told Aunt Amy about that, and she decided to teach me more. If only I'd known that.. mentally scarring class would include stories about how she tried to invent her own tampons, and how she filled her bras with sphere-shaped margarine (so the filling would be actual fat, just not hers)…

Seeing that my literature search led nowhere, I was glad we were meeting the gang the next day. I was hoping to get something out of interviewing my aunts.

I still couldn't get anything out of my mom. I cuddled with her that evening, watching that funny improv TV show we like, but I couldn't bring myself to ask, I didn't want to upset her. I felt she was still tense, she covers it well, but I know. It was only the next morning that I managed to say "Mommy, about that 'little woman' thing…" but, again, she caressed my cheek, kissed my forehead, shrieked and ran away.

So there I was, waiting for Aunt Amy by the Wolowitzes' back door, like some kind of stalker. She came out to check on Baby Bro and Lizzie, who were observing the grass outside. They didn't need supervision for that, but Aunt Amy wanted to make sure they kept playing together the whole time. Now that they're in school, they're not together as much as they used to be, because at this age most of the boys play with the boys and the girls with the girls. They still play together after school, but Aunt Amy takes it upon herself to make sure it stays this way.

"Aunt Amy!" I said, the moment she walked through the door.

"Oh, hi, cutie, didn't see you there," she said, a little startled, since I caught her by surprise.

"Sorry, I just wanted to talk to you."

"Really? Let's do it! What about? Your favorite aunt is here to talk to you about everything!" she said, rapidly, excited.

"Umm it's for kind of a research I'm doing… Informal, but I have a little semi-structured interview."

"Ooh, qualitative, somebody's testing new waters! I like it, some teenage exploration. Just don't tell your Uncle Sheldon, he'll freak out."

I smiled awkwardly at her odd reaction, "I won't, would you come with me to Michael's room?" I asked. Michael let me use his room, as long as I didn't share any "bleeding-related" findings with him. Don't worry, I elbowed him for saying that.

After we sat down I ran the voice-to-text app on my phone, setting it to write into my pad. I took a breath, "Alright, Aunt Amy, I'm gonna need you to answer honestly, and try to answer in depth. There are no right or wrong answers, just what's true to your experience."

"Got it," she said, "this is exciting! I've never been interviewed for a study!"

I smiled, "Yes, so, Aunt Amy, what does becoming a little woman mean to you?"

"Ohh is this a sociological thing? Gender studies? Or more anthropological?"

"Umm I don't know, it's explorative. Just, say what you think, don't try to make it fit any agenda."

"Okay," she said, "Well, biologically speaking, as I am a _neurobiologist,_ " she said, leaning closer to my phone for that, "I consider the menarche, the first menstrual cycle, as a sign of becoming a little woman. Most girls are not yet fertile at that time, but it's a sign that your hormones have started to do 'their thing'. However, besides preparing you to reproduce, becoming a little woman also grants you a ticket to a _magical land_ of _exhilarating options,"_ she said, a giant smile spreading on her face, "'Truth or dare', 'Never have I ever', watching risqué movies such as 'Grease' and 'Dirty Dancing', gossip, makeovers. That is, if you have girlfriends. Actual. Book characters or pen-pals who may be your mother do not count."

I didn't know how to respond to that, so I decided to move on, "O..kay… Next question. How long does becoming a little woman take?"

She thought for a moment, "About 20 years," she said, nodding.

That didn't seem right, but I nodded along. "And what do you remember feeling when you went through this yourself?"

"Curiosity, excitement," she smiled, "then waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting.. waiting, waiting, waiting, exploration, excitement, joy, thrill. Oh and thriving!"

I nodded, "and are there any risks to this 'becoming a little woman', that you know of? Or fears that you or others might have about it?"

"My mother always told me to beware of perverts, but I wasn't too worried because I always had mace on me. Which was unfortunate for my dad, whenever he came back home earlier than I expected."

Aunt Bernie had very different answers. "Hey, I may be little outside, but I was never a 'little woman'!" was what I got when I asked my first question.

"Umm okay, so, what does becoming a woman mean to you?"

"Hmm. I'd say.. it is a process, of.. cultivating your natural charms, and uniqueness," she smiled.

'That sounds nice', I thought.

"And using them to get what you want."

'Huh'.

"I think pageants were the best schools for that. You learned which was your best smile, gained confidence and charisma, and showcased your talents, while stomping over some bitches. It is truly an outrage that California doesn't have them anymore."

"I think they do," I said.

"You mean this 'Non-competitive Talent Showcase' crap? that's just new-age BS, that doesn't count."

"Right… and how much time does becoming a woman take?"

"That depends. I'm a fast learner, I think it took me about 2 or 3 pageants."

"Okay… And what do you remember feeling when you went through this yourself?"

"Feelings? That doesn't matter, no one should know your real feelings, you gotta learn how to play your feeling cards right."

"O..kay…" I nodded, "and any risks to this process that you know of? Or fears that you or others might have about it?"

To that Aunt Bernie just gave a little, yet helluva scary, laugh, "I'm the biggest of them all."

So, this 'little woman' thing seemed to provoke different things in different people. On another note, my aunt Bernie may be a secret agent. Hopefully for our side.

"The world is filled with meaning, in every leaf, in every pebble, in a ray of sunshine or a drop of rain. You just have to look for it," Aunt Anaya said, with a gentle, peaceful smile.

I nodded, "…right, but what does becoming a little woman mean _to you?_ "

She seemed thoughtful for a moment. "There's a Hindu ceremony for after a girl's first menstruation, the Ritu Kala Samskara, but not everybody does it. My family didn't have the time for it, because everybody was working. But I still wanted it, so I took my older sister's sari and walked around the neighborhood, telling everyone that I was a woman. None of our neighbors was Hindu, but it was Halloween, so I got myself a nice stack of candy," she shrugged.

Yeah…those interviews did not turn out as helpful as I thought they would.

After coming back home, I video-called Nana, thinking maybe an older woman's perspective was required.

"Oh you're doing research! That's wonderful! Oh, aren't you a brilliant little wonder!" she said as I explained my intentions, "WYATT!" she turned and called.

"WHAT?" Papa's voice sounded from another room.

"RILEY'S DOING RESEARCH!"

"SHE'S DOING WHAT?"

"RESEARCH!"

"OH THAT'S NICE! TELL HER I'M PROUD OF MY LITTLE GENUIS GRANDBABY! THAT'S ALL LEONARD GENES! I SAID HE WAS A KEEPER! "

"YOU DID , HONEY, YOU DID," she said to him, then turned back to the screen, "He says-"

"I heard," I said. "So Nana, I just need you to answer honestly,"

She nodded, "Anything for you, my dear."

"What does becoming a little woman mean to you?"

"Aww you'll be a wonderful woman, darling. You're smart, you're responsible, you don't take my money, or my pot…"

Why would I do that? We have enough money, and perfectly good pots, and other cookware, for that matter. "No, Nana, what does it mean to you?"

"I told you, darling, that you'll be wonderful, you _are_ wonderful."

I tried moving on, "And how much time does it take?"

"Take all the time you need, my love,"

"No, how much time does- Never mind, what did you feel when you went through it?"

"You know you look so nice with your hair behind your ears, it opens up your face."

"Nana, could you please concentrate?" I pleaded.

"I am concentrating, dear."

I sighed, "Okay, the next one's important. Are there any risks to becoming a little woman, that you know of? Or fears that you or others might have about it?"

"Who's scaring you, you apple of Nana's eyes? You're perfect, you shouldn't fear a thing."

"Thanks Nana," I sighed, "Send a kiss to Papa on my behalf."

After finishing my talk with Nana I took off my shoes and went to sit on my bed, leaning on the wall behind it. I opened my pad on my phone, projecting the screen in front of me. Looking at my data, I was disappointed. I reached nowhere. I was none the wiser than I was before I started my research. Maybe I didn't do it right. I'm far from being well-versed in sociological or psychological literature and my knowledge of qualitative research methods is rudimentary at best.

I then heard a knock on my door.

"Come in," I said.

"Hey Cub," Daddy said, opening my door, "Dinner's in 20 minutes."

"Okay, thanks," I smiled slightly.

"What've you got there?" he asked, referring to my screen.

I sighed, "Kind of a research. Not a very good one."

Daddy rolled my chair next to my bed and sat by me, "'Little Woman Project'…" he read the title of the pad project.

"I didn't tell you about it because I knew you wouldn't be able to keep it from Mom, and she might not take it well," I explained. I went on to tell him all about my research, and what prompted it, and how I didn't get any answers that helped.

Daddy listened to me, and looked at the screen.

I took a breath. I knew he didn't exactly meet my sampling criteria, but it's Daddy, he knows everything, it was worth a shot, "Daddy," I said, making him look at me, "What do you think becoming a little woman means?"

"Well," he said, "Contrary to what my brother would say, I never went through that."

I looked down, thinking it was a stupid idea to ask him, how would he know?

"But I did grow up, and I think I can help you."

"Really?" I looked up at him, hopefully.

"I think there may be an answer in your data. Sometimes you need to do some extrapolation from the raw data you get." He then started working the pad. He opened a new tab and copied parts of the answers I'd got to it, saying "I think becoming a woman is 'a process', 'filled with meaning', that you 'have to look for'. It opens 'exhilarating options' to you, which you can 'explore'," (that one he derived from 'exploration') "while finding and 'cultivating your natural charms and uniqueness' and realizing who you want to be. There may be a lot of 'waiting' involved, 'that depends', and you should 'take all the time you need', but, there also seem to be 'excitement, joy, thrill' and 'thriving' in it," he concluded, and turned to me, "does that help you with your questions?"

I looked at the screen, the collection of words and phrases now making much more sense. I started smiling, and nodded slowly. "I think it does," I said, and hugged him tight, "Thank you, Daddy."

Daddy returned the hug and we stayed like that for some time.

But then, looking at the screen again, I sighed, "Daddy, it doesn't look simple, but… I still don't get what there is there to cry over. Could I be doing something wrong? Something that's making Mommy worry about me? Or making her upset with me?" I asked, worried.

"No, baby, of course not," he said, in his comforting voice, "Cub, I can assure you there's no single piece of you that your mom doesn't adore. It's not you, It's her. You know, when you first started walking, your mom cried for hours about how you were gonna get up and go farther and farther away from her, 'cause apparently 10-month-olds like to go hiking and are faster than runners. And the night you first slept away from home, at Randi's, she stayed near the house and wouldn't leave until I came to drag her away, which wasn't easy, I think I still have a hint of her teeth marks,"

I was both surprised and amused, and snickered a little.

"You like that?" he asked, "I've got tons of these stories. Even a recent one. When you got your first period. Mom couldn't bring herself to buy the hygiene products for you, she made me do it. I didn't have any idea what I was doing. Your Aunt Amy helped me make the cut, to choose what to bring to you, but we have enough supplies for about 50 women with all kinds of preferences in our garage."

'Maybe we can trade them for chocolate,' I thought to myself, 'That runs out faster than hygiene products when I have my period.'

"My point is, your mom has always had it hard seeing you grow, all of you kids. Yesterday was probably just a little overwhelming for her. But don't worry, she'll get over it. Leave it to me. Okay?"

I nodded. "Okay," I smiled. Then, after a little pause, I asked, "Daddy?"

"Yes, Cub?"

"Is it hard for you, too? That I'm becoming a little woman?"

He took a moment, "Yes. It is."

I tensed up, that was not what I was hoping to hear.

Daddy put his hand on my shoulder, squeezing a little, smiling, "But I'm also eager to see you go through it. Your Nana had it right, you are and you will be a wonderful little woman."

* * *

 _ **A/N: To clarify, this kid of "extrapolation" Leonard does here is not how you do this kind of research, he's just using this to make his own point, making use of what Riley got and thought was useless. Riley knows what he's doing. Also, this is what I really got when I made these searches on Scholar and the general Google (incognito mode).**_ __


	19. His own person

_**A/N: Chapter time!**_

 _ **Since there's a lot about Stephen in this one, I'll remind you that the character of Stephen represents the character of Stephen, not all people with ASD; that Stephen has his own characteristics beside having ASD; and that ASD is very heterogenous, if you met a person with ASD you met a person with ASD.**_

 _ **Thanks to anyone who follows, reads, reviewed, favorited. I love reading reviews and also respond (unless you don't want me to). Special thanks to my wonderful beta reader joyteach.**_

 _ **Oh, and a shoutout to marcelb who started publishing a new story, called "Penny Investigations: The Caltech Murder". I beta-read this one and it's really great.**_

 _ **The Big Bang Theory does not belong to me, shocker, right? I only own my OCs and to an extent Corollary's Michael and Halley.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 19: His own person**

 _June, 2033._

 _[Amy.]_

For many years I hated parties. It wasn't always like that. It was an attitude I had developed, a shield, you may say, after years of being left out. Whether not invited or present but ignored, I was not included, no matter how desperately I wanted to be. And so, when I was in my early twenties, I stuck to my books and my studies, denying that I had an interest in celebrations of any sort.

Then I met Penny. She became my bestie and woke up the party animal in me. We went out to clubs, and bars, we had slumber parties, house parties, I even went back to wearing costumes, after not wearing them for several years. Oh, and Bernadette was there too.

I wonder what that Amy, say 23-year-old Amy, would have thought if she saw me today, preparing for a party at my own house. She would have been shocked, overwhelmed. Especially when she found out this party was for my son, the son she probably wouldn't believe she'd have.

My Stevie sure deserved this party. Just like his dad, and a few years earlier than his mom, at eleven years old, he had finished all his final exams, everything that was required as part of the mandatory curriculum.

Stevie likes parties. He does not enjoy the crowd and the noise, but he likes the meaning behind them – friends and family gathering to share their joy. And if this involves playing his favorite games, watching his favorite movies or having a selection of ice-cream flavors and toppings (even though he only eats vanilla ice cream with chocolate cookie crumbles, and a hint of strawberry syrup on a whimsy day), then it's "a 'Yippee!'-worthy event". So, when I suggested throwing him a party when he came home after his last exam, it was an immediate yes. He also wanted it to be a surprise party, but not a surprise so he wouldn't get too scared. He had us invite only the Hofstadters and his friend Andrey, so we would be ten people – enough to call it a party, but not too many so that there wouldn't be more than five simultaneous conversations, and crumbs of untraceable origins.

Starting time was approaching. Stevie had texted that he finished his test. We still had some preparations to do, but with everybody contributing I knew we'd be on time.

That is, if Maxi didn't cause a chain accident. You never know with this little guy. He'd already crashed the soda can pyramid Sophie made, but managed to catch two in his hands and one on his head while Leonard dived to catch the other ones. At least Lizzie was impressed.

I was busy positioning the 'Death Star' cake, these things should be handled carefully. I had Lizzie stand nearby to catch it if it rolled over, and Riley to catch it if it rolled over Lizzie.

Sophie was in charge of writing on the windows. It took days to convince Sheldon to allow that, even though I showed him the markers would come off in half a minute, and he only agreed for Sophie to do it. It may take five minutes a letter, but you can count on her to not mess it up.

Penny was in charge of the ice-cream stand. We actually have a stand, Sheldon bought one a few years ago.

"Excuse me, what do you think you're doing?" Sheldon turned to Penny, crossing his arms disapprovingly.

Penny turned to face him and sighed, "I don't know, putting in the wrong number of napkins? Positioning the spoons at a non-optimal angle?" she asked, sarcastically.

"Why yes, but I was trying to be lenient with you, and only mention the glaring problem," Sheldon responded.

Penny sighed, "Sheldon, this is not our first rodeo, just tell me what it is."

"You have placed the flavors all wrong. I can forgive you putting each individual flavor in an incorrect place, but you have the fruity flavors and the chocolate-based ones all mixed up together. It goes chocolate-based, then nut-based, vanilla, other creamy flavors, then fruity."

Penny gave Leonard her 'isn't he crazy?' look.

Leonard shrugged, "It does make sense."

"Oh what do you know?" Penny said and went to re-order the flavors.

I gave Sheldon a look, I'd told him once and again not to be too pedantic about the preparations.

"Don't give me a look," he said, "If she'd kept it that way people would have taken longer to figure out the correct flavor combinations, thus causing the party to take longer, thus leaving us less time to fill out Stephen's application for Caltech later tonight."

"Stephen's what?" I asked, surprised.

"Amy I have agreed to go along with your nonsensical insistence on postponing this to until he'd finished his finals, but we cannot keep stretching it. As much as we are important to the university, they won't allow for too long a delay in submission. I cannot go on much longer with the emotional paradox it puts me in. I am outraged at the university's apparent misunderstanding of the incredible honor it is having Stephen Isaac Cooper-Fowler among their students," he said, directing it at Leonard, Caltech's VP, "but at the same time I appreciate their adherence to their rules."

"Sheldon, this is something we have to talk about, there's a lot to think about," I said. I'd told him after Stevie had finished his finals we'd _talk_ about getting him to university, not sign him up. Just because he's finished his finals, doesn't mean he's ready to start at the university. Riley finished her finals a year ago and she chose to stay in school.

"What's there to think? How great it will be for him? How he will finally get the chance to be in a fitting environment, where his mind will be celebrated as it should? How he is going to revolutionize Physics and win multiple Nobels?" Sheldon was surprised and angry.

I was getting angry as well, I know he doesn't do this on purpose but it can be so annoying how Sheldon disregards, or never sees, Stevie's challenges, how he pushes his plans for Stevie without considering Stevie's well-being first. "How about how young he is? And how big a change this will be? And how he takes time to understand new social rules and expectations? How this could throw him off and they won't be as tolerant as the school? How lost he might be?"

"Umm, Aunt Amy…" I heard Sophie say quietly, but then Sheldon spoke.

"This is nonsense, I went to college at 11 and look how I turned out!"

I had a good answer for that, but I managed to take a breath and restrain myself, "Sheldon there's a lot to consider," I said, trying to end that conversation, for the time being.

"Uncle Sheldon…" Sophie tried to draw attention again.

"Amy this is unacceptable, you tricked me into thinking we were going to fill the forms today!" Sheldon accused.

"No, I didn't! I said we'd talk about it!" I retorted.

"Surprise..!" we heard the others yell awkwardly.

Turning around, I saw Stevie standing at the door.

"Stephen's coming…" Sophie said.

Stevie sighed, "Mom, you said you knew how to perform the horrifying 'Surprise' exclamation," he said to me, then turned to the rest, "I am willing to give you another chance, but you will have to commit to it, and do it in unison. That means all together."

He opened the door and went out, and we prepared.

"Here I come," Stevie called from outside, "approaching the door to enter my home, unsuspecting of any celebratory deviance from routine for my stellar accomplishment… I'm taking a step forward… Still not suspecting… I'm opening my backpack to reach for the key…" he narrated, slowly.

"I'm reaching for the couch to take a nap 'til this is over," Penny said and went to sit down on the couch.

I gave her a look, but that ended up lasting several good minutes. Finally, at the fifth "I'm opening the door," Stevie fully opened the door.

"Surprise!" we all yelled.

A frightened "Whoo!" came out of Stevie, and he put a hand over his chest.

"How was that, Honey?" I asked him.

"Positively horrifying," he answered, wide-eyed, and then added two thumbs up.

With this, the party started. It included some of Stevie's favorite games (box and card) and also some traditional party games, which he insisted should be included, even though he wouldn't play them. In fact, he refused to bend for the 'Limbo' ("a dangerous provocation to a person's upper back and balance") and was too afraid of hitting himself when trying to hit the pinata. He probably did himself a favor with the pinata, though, Lizzie and Maxi spent about half an hour swinging it, until Penny 'accidentally' elbowed it open.

Sheldon and I spent the rest of the party trying to stop Lizzie from eating all the candy she filled her bowl with. It turned out I miscalculated the amount of candy needed, forgetting to consider Sheldon's refusal to take any as soon as the (wrapped) candy touched the floor, and Sophie's choice paralysis ("What if I take too much of others' favorites? Or if I take too little of it and they have too much? What if I'm taking too long to decide and that ruins the party and nobody's telling me so as not to hurt me so I'll never learn how long to take and will forever be ruining parties?"). Andrey took quite enough, his parents refuse to buy American candy so he was shoving them in like a sugar addicted monkey after a three-month long abstinence. I just hoped he wouldn't climb up and down his cage for the next 56 hours.

But the bigger surprise came when Stephen took a handful of candy. He's always so careful with his diet, and even at a party would restrict his sugar intake. But the biggest surprise was his answer to my questioning.

"Stevie, that is far beyond your sugar limit," I said, not reproaching, but wondering.

"It is," he said matter-of-factly, not turning around (that's not unusual for him, but he would have turned to me if he thought there was something worth explaining).

"Stevie, look at me," I asked, and he did. "Since when do you eat past your sugar limit?"

"I do not," he responded, "The candy and I are just making out."

That made all eyes turn on him, and Penny spit her grape juice (how is she always drinking when things like that happen?).

"Honey, Honey," I turned to Stevie, trying to get his attention back, as he was shaken by the spitting. "What do you mean by that?" I asked, carefully.

"Making out. It means you are enjoying something noncommittally, so it doesn't count as really doing it," he stated.

"Stevie, that's not exactly what that means…" I started, wondering how to handle this.

"Halley seemed very sure of that," he answered.

"Halley?"

"Yes. She's making out with Bryce. I saw them kissing and canoodling in their school's hallway when I went to take my Math final last Wednesday. I said I could see they'd reinstated their romantic relationship, and she corrected me, saying that they were just making out, which she said is not being in a relationship. She said it is akin to sneaking a donut every once in a while, which does not mean you eat donuts. But you do not tell the parents. Shh." (That last part, I suppose, was intended to make him keep it a secret)

"Oh," a wide-eyed Penny slowly nodded, as Leonard awkwardly cleared his throat. Sheldon crossed his arms disapprovingly. The three Hofstadter kids had their thinking frowns, and Lizzie and Andrey… well, they were out of my sight.

"Huh. Umm, well," I started, "Halley was wrong, partly. Doing something noncommittally doesn't mean you do not do it, or have no relations with it," I said.

"Oh. Then you'd better hurry up and explain it to her, she does not want to be with that hideous jerk with the irresistible eyes and godly body," he responded, with what I assume were Halley's words.

"Sounds like she knows what she's…" I started, but stopped myself, "Anyway, Stevie, 'making out' refers to certain activities people do together," I said, wanting to get this over with.

"Which ones?" he asked. I knew he would, but still hoped he wouldn't.

Sheldon chimed in, "That is a question for your Aunt Penny."

He wasn't wrong, with her silky golden hair, angelic face, perfect figure and winning personality, Bestie had inevitably attracted countless men and, before tying the knot with Leonard, had had more than enough experience to be considered a make-out expert. I learned from the best!

All looks turned to Penny. "Hey, who's ready for another round of…" she said as she reached for whatever game her hand would lay on, "The Settlers of Catan: North Pole Extension 5-7.5 Player Expansion…?!" she read.

Luckily, there were no more 'bullets' to dodge, and the party ended on a high note. Although Stevie did not participate in everything, and had it a little rough when Lizzie decided to choose a different character from her usual Princess Leia in the Star Wars board game, he was so happy about the party and considered it "a blast".

I was overjoyed to see him so content. Stevie has in his mind a certain way in which things should be. Sometimes figuring the "correct" way is not that easy, the most trivial things may be deviations that would be hard for him to deal with. As opposed to Sheldon, who lets everyone know when he's unhappy, Stevie does try to be considerate and mask such things, at least when he realizes he should, but it's very obvious when he does that.

But my bliss was short-lived. As soon as the kids went upstairs, Sheldon demanded that we talk.

"Amy, are you out of your mind?" Sheldon asked, the moment we sat on the kitchen chairs.

I sighed, it was exactly what I expected.

"How does a person in their right mind, let alone your brilliant mind, even consider stopping our son from starting university as soon as he can?" he, rhetorically, asked.

"I didn't say I'm stopping him, I said we need to talk about it. We need to think if this is what's best for him now."

"Of course it is! He's Stephen Isaac Cooper-Fowler, he belongs in Caltech."

"Sheldon, lower your voice," I said, I didn't want Stevie to hear him. I was sure if he did, he'd be convinced Sheldon was right, and then doing differently would be very hard. "Look, I agree he would enjoy university, he could find like-minded people there and have great success. But I'm afraid now's not the right time for him to start. Sheldon, you know he has challenges-"

Sheldon huffed, cutting me off, "There you go again with those 'challenges'. The Autism disorder, right? Amy, our son doesn't have a disorder. He's different from other kids because he's far more advanced than them. He's a homo-novus, he's extraordinary, superior. I let you take him to all those therapists, I join you to meet them and as you asked, I refrain from expressing all of my thoughts about the poppycock they're saying, just so he can learn how to live among the inferior others, so they won't call him 'a witch' or 'a nutcase' like they called me. But I will not let this ridiculous label, crafted by people who do not understand our son, impede his career."

I knew I couldn't, but all I wanted to do was get up and run away. There were too many emotions, strong and conflicting, I did not know how to handle that. There was Sheldon again, refusing to accept Stephen's diagnosis, leaving me alone in this again, acting like our son's treatments are "my thing", and I'm so lucky that he's willing to allow them and to sit there in meetings and parent guidance, huffing and puffing all along. And I just want to stand there and yell at him at the top of my voice to wake up, open his eyes, face reality. Can he really be so blind? He sees the Hofstadter kids, he sees our daughter, how can he not notice Stevie's different, beyond his intelligence? That, in some ways, he's deficient? But then he talks about himself, and I have to ask myself, will what I yell at him be only about Stephen? And then, looking in his eyes, I can see that he truly wants what's best for Stephen. And this was true for this argument as well, he truly believed going to Caltech in a few months was what was best for Stephen, and he couldn't see it being another way.

I took a deep breath. "Sheldon, please, listen to me. Forget the diagnosis, or the homo-novus, or whatever. Think about Stevie. Carefully. Think about him going around Caltech, sitting in classes, having free periods, getting assignments, working with other students. Think of how different this would be from what he's used to. Different, bigger place, different sounds, different people, many people, many sounds, different expectations, different rules and codes of conduct, different formalities and requirements…"

Sheldon was looking down, at the table. "That is a lot of change," he said, in a quiet tone. "I remember," he said. He didn't elaborate, but I assume he referred to his transition to college, at 11.

"It is. And you know how hard it is for Stevie to deal with changes."

It took a moment, but he nodded.

"And you know how hard it is for him to understand how to behave in a new context, especially with people. He has trouble understanding the kids at school, and all these people will be so much older than them, but not yet mature enough to adjust themselves for him. They'll be more sophisticated socially, they'll be using more indirect talk, and innuendos. He'll be so different from them, in more ways than he is different from his current classmates. And, I know this doesn't matter to you, but Stevie does want friends, you know this Sheldon, he wants to have friends and he wants to connect with kids his age."

Sheldon took a moment, and then looked at me, "But Amy, he has a hard time at school too. They don't appreciate him. They will at the university."

"You're right," I nodded, "That's a point in favor of Caltech. There's no easy answer to this, that's why I wanted us to talk. We need to think it through to figure what Stevie's gonna do."

"I will be staying at school," we suddenly heard Stevie say. We were so engrossed in our conversation, that somehow he'd managed to come and stand at the entrance to the kitchen, without our noticing. Even Sheldon's "Vulcan hearing" didn't help.

"Stevie…" I started, not knowing what to say.

"Stephen, we haven't decided yet," Sheldon said, after turning toward him.

"I understand. I'm giving you my decision," Stevie answered.

"Stevie, this is something your dad and I should decide on," I explained.

"I am aware that, as I am a minor, you, as my parents, are the ones who have the legal authority to make this decision. However, your considering allowing me to go to college implies you believe I am capable of doing so. Being capable of going to college implies being skilled enough to make responsible choices about one's education, as college requires choosing desired fields and courses to study. Hence, according to your perspectives, I am capable of making this decision," Stephen explained.

"Stephen, this is a complex decision," Sheldon said, "You have the opportunity to stop wasting your time on school spirit events and horrible, animalistic activities such as dodge-ball games, and go to a place where your outstanding mind will finally get proper nurturing."

"If I do have an outstanding mind, then, given that I have better access to relevant data about myself, since I am myself, my idea about what's best for me should be better than yours," he said.

I was shocked, and I could see Sheldon was, too. I could definitely argue with this reasoning, but that was Stevie's equivalent to slamming a door in his father's face. He never did such a thing. He never stood up against Sheldon, not unless he was supporting a position I took.

Sheldon looked at me, helpless. Stevie had practically won him over using Sheldon's own logic.

"Stevie, why do you want to stay in school?" I asked. I thought he might have heard the entire conversation and concluded that making this decision would be supporting me.

"School is supposed to help students achieve certain goals. Attainment of academic goals is measured by the final tests, which I have completed, but there are also socialization goals, which I have yet to achieve. There are no measures of attainment of these goals, and I'm afraid my deficiencies may lead me to achieve them only partially, but it's only logical that I would stay in school in order to make further progress in that domain. Riley is still at school for social learning, even though she does not have the same deficiencies I have. Besides, I'm worried about Andrey. How would he cope without me? Yesterday Jane Smith said she was cold and he gave her his hoodie, leaving himself no protection against the cold. That kid has a lot to learn. For these reasons, I conclude I should stay in school," he finished, and then made eye contact with Sheldon, and then with me. Stevie does not always make eye contact, and while this was rather 'mechanical', it showed he was serious about his decision. "I will let you know when I decide I should leave school," he stated, and left the kitchen, going back upstairs.

After a few minutes of looking toward the direction Stevie went in, still very much surprised, I looked at Sheldon and saw him furrowing his eyebrows. "Sheldon?" I asked.

"This doesn't feel right, Amy. Stephen is a homo-novus, like myself, a mind that comes once or twice in a generation, yet he made a different reasoning and reached a different conclusion from my original one, how could this be? It is as if he were-"

"His own person," I completed, smiling.


	20. Out of hand

_**A/N: It's...chapter time, or if you're reading this some time after it was posted, it's...the time after you clicked next! What a magical time, huh?**_

 _ **This is chapter 20, but as I mentioned I have much more planned. The Big Bang Theory will be over in less than two months but for now my plan is to keep up with this story, so anyone who will still pay visits to this section of fanfiction is invited to stick around.**_

 _ **Thanks to all who read, follow, favortied and review. You guys know I love reading what you think. Special thanks to my great beta joyteach, and also to Tensor for answering some USA-related questions.**_

 _ **Since there are big time gaps between the chapters sometimes I figured I'd mention them in the A/N. This chapter is 7 months after the previous chapter.**_

 _ **And guess what? The Big Bang Theory does not belong to me. I only own my OCs and to some extent this story's Michael and Halley.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 20: Out of hand**

 _January, 2034._

 _[Halley.]_

Make outs always seem so hot and steamy on TV. Everything flows perfectly, everything so fun and arousing, everything smooth and on point. Well, there was nothing smooth about the school's wall, and there were way too many pointy branches on the tree next to it, the one I thought would be better to lean on than the wall, when Bryce and I were making out. There was also that creepy squirrel that kept staring at us.

But it was still kinda hot, not TV hot, but Bryce sure knows what he's doing. And he knew what he was doing when he started moving his hands down my back.

I took his hands in mine and put them back on my face, before things got out of hand. Usually when he starts moving his hands down there my bra is open within seconds. "How 'bout we keep this PG-13?" I smiled at him, "There are people watching." I gently moved my eyes towards them, not moving otherwise, so that they wouldn't think I cared.

Bryce kinda ruined it, turning his head to look at them, then smiling and winking at them. "So?" he turned to me, "Let them enjoy the show. They need us to give them something to feed their fantasies, that's part of being a power couple," he gave me a smug smile and then quickly moved his hand to my lower back and pulled me closer.

I almost got tempted, and Bryce could see it, based on his moving his other hand down my back again. It was hard, but I finally managed to snap out of it and moved his hand back to my face again.

Damn it, why is it so hard to resist that hunky bastard? Ugh, him and his beautiful hazel eyes, and that smile that makes my knees so weak I could collapse in a second, and that body… That body that's only getting hotter every day, as if he's not insanely hot already. Gosh, you probably think I'm so weak. Probably more so because I took him back after what he said about my family two years ago. I can still remember that s**t word by word. And now we're back together.

In my defense, it wasn't like that, I didn't just take him back. The first three months I couldn't even look at his gorgeous hideous face, I ran away from him even though he kept begging me to talk to him. Then, a year after our break-up, I agreed to talk to him, just for two minutes. He was being so horribly cute and said he was so sorry. But I didn't feel he was being honest, so I turned him down. But then, on Valentine's Day, he arranged a surprise for me. He decorated an entire classroom for us and after school he made my friends get me there. When I opened the door he started dancing "Stunning Baby", my favorite 'One Intention' song, shirtless. It was the hottest nostalgia I'd ever felt. Then he held me close to him and things had gotten out of hand… well, some things had gotten _in_ his hands… But I couldn't take him back, something didn't feel right. Also, I'd seen him making fun of some nerds at school the day before, he said they were bullying him but I sure didn't buy it. I hate bullying for no reason. But I just couldn't resist the criminally jacked jackass, and that's how we ended up making out in secret for like six months. All throughout he kept pleading for us to be together, for real, saying he thought my family was the best and that he loved nerds (although that was not the point), until I finally caved and took him back.

We've been together for almost half a year now, and last month we did it. Yes, that 'it'. I trust that you know not to tell my dad, he'd have a stroke. I thought doing it would make my doubts go away, it's supposed to be like 'the ultimate joining of spirits' or something like that, right? But I still had those feelings that it wasn't right. Me and Bryce. But I thought, 'He's so ridiculously hot and he said he loves me and we do make a real power couple. I'm attracted to him, I love him, I think, there's stuff that feels right, so maybe I'm just overly cautious. This feeling of something not being right, of something being wrong, must be nonsense.'

Anyway, when it was time to go to class Bryce and I had to say goodbye for a few hours, we had classes in opposite parts of the building so there wasn't enough time to meet in the next short recess.

My next class was Biology. To tell the truth, I don't like it that much. Okay, I don't like it at all. And mostly, I don't like that I don't like it. I want to be a big time badass when I'm older, like my mom, and she's a microbiologist. So I try extra hard in Biology, and I do well, I don't get all A+s like in other subjects, but it's mostly As. But since I don't like it, I hate studying it, so when I have assignments and tests on it it's a nightmare. And when I think it's a nightmare it's even more of a nightmare, because I keep thinking that I'll get sick of it at some point and stop studying, and then I won't do well enough to major in Biology at college. Then there are the times I think I just don't have what it takes for it and someone will pick up on that eventually.

So I came out of that class wanting to put my head inside a sundae machine, the one that has this revolving handle, and twist it until my last mitochondria disassemble. But as I went out to the hallway I had to pick myself up, I can't let the people at school see that I'm affected by a class.

That recess, the first of the day, is always short, but I like it because my friends and I have classes together or close to each other after it, so we spend it together, by Ivory's locker.

"So… Colleges are gonna start sending letters soon, which one do you think you'll get into?" Taylor asked.

"I'm crossing my fingers for either Mils or Chapman. I applied for Seattle too but I don't know, it's so cold, I'll probably shiver my way out of there after one semester," Jemma said.

"Well you know my plan, Photography at the University of Southern California," Ivory said. "My dad says it's a waste of time and that I should study Computer Science so I could work somewhere in Silicon Valley like him and Daddy. He says photography is a hobby, not a profession. I asked him, if he thinks that, then why did he let me do modelling jobs but he said that was different. Daddy just tells him not to pressure me, which is basically like saying I will come around eventually. But I don't care what they think, I know what I want."

"Ugh parents can be such a drag," Tay said. "That's why I applied only to colleges across the country, although I'm sure they'll find a way to snoop on me even there."

"I don't mind my parents, I'm going to beauty school in LA so I'll probably just stay home, it's not too far, why waste money on rent?" Britney shrugged.

"What about you Halley? Every time we talk about college you're so quiet, that's not like you," Tay said.

"Huh, I didn't notice," I responded. That was a total lie, of course I noticed. I just… I don't know, whenever we talk about college I feel uncomfortable, like, stressed, and I don't want them to pick up on that. I don't even know why I feel this way, I'm not worried about getting into a good college, it's just that something doesn't feel right about it.

"Probably doesn't want to make us jealous 'cause she's gonna get into a super-fancy college and kick ass there, am I right?" Jemma said.

"You got me," I smiled, "You know me, I'm gonna get there and be on top in like a minute." Of course I will. I'll crush it. I'll be on top, I always am, I have to be.

Ive gave me a look, I could see she was on to me, she's the only person who's always on to me.

Then Britney was saying something, but I couldn't concentrate, not with that nasty piece of work, Riley, in sight. Gosh, how did Aunt Penny and Uncle Leonard have such an obnoxious kid? Ugh, if you could just look at her, walking down the hallway, busy with her phone, with that little smile on her face, so full of herself. And when she came closer I could see that she was working on that Biology project of hers, no less! I just can't believe her! She came to my mom with this thing, some idea she had when reading a Biology journal, because of course she does that, and, of course, her wicked little scam totally worked! My mom was so impressed and spent hours with her, and then spent the entire family dinner talking about it. And now she keeps working on it?! Hasn't she had enough?!

She had it coming, she really did. All I needed to do was stick my foot out a bit, and score! The NerdyPuff Girl tripped as if she was in an old cheesy comedy. She didn't fall down, but it was hilarious. Everyone around was laughing.

"Hey Brainiac, maybe you should learn how to walk before you start on advanced Biology," I quipped.

She just gave me an angry look for a moment and then turned around and left, 'cause even when she'd been hurt she has to play the saint. Screw her, I totally got her.

Just then, it was time to go to class. I was relieved that that stopped the college conversation with the girls, but my next class was with Ivory, and I knew she would pick it up.

"Spill it," she said, as we started walking to our class.

I sighed. I knew denying it would be a waste of time. "I would, but I don't know what 'it' is. I don't know why I feel this way, something just feels wrong. I wish I could be into it like you, but I'm not. It's not that I doubt myself, I know I'm gonna kill it, that's what I do," I smiled.

"That _is_ what you do," Ive said, "And it's both a blessing and a curse."

"A curse?" I gave her a funny look, thinking she may have gone crazy, "How could it be a curse?"

"Halley, you're full of power and, um, what's that word? ambition. You're like, like a jet plane, you can get whatever you set your mind on. But, when you're going so strong things can get out of hand. You're like, set on the destination, and you'll get there, but what if it's not what you want?" she said, right when we got to class.

I kept thinking about what she said throughout the entire class, and then some. So when Brit, Tay and Jemma ran to us a few steps into the hallway, I almost jumped out of my skin.

"Halley come on, quick!" Brit said, excitedly. She took me by the hand and almost ripped it out of its place pulling me toward the cafeteria, while the other excited girls and the confused Ivory followed.

"Where? Why?" I asked.

"Trust us," Jemma said.

"You've been kinda down lately, but we came up, well I came up, with the perfect plan to cheer you up!" Brit said.

We stopped a few feet away from the cafeteria and waited for a few minutes, watching kids go in, the girls refusing to let me go in or tell me what it was about.

Then, they took me to stand in front of the open cafeteria doors. I noticed Brit and some other girl from our grade, Kayla, make eye contact, and then Brit whistled, starting the obviously coordinated action that took place next. It was all so fast, so I may have not noticed everything, but I'll tell you what I saw.

It started when Kayla 'accidentally' bumped into Riley, forcefully, making her lose balance and drop her food tray. "Watch where you're going!" she shouted, smirking.

Riley looked at her, confused, and before she knew it another girl, Courtney, took off Riley's hoodie. "Hey, give me that!" Riley called, but Courtney threw it to a guy, Matthew, who threw it to another guy (I couldn't see who that was), who threw it to someone else, and soon the hoodie was nowhere to be seen. They were laughing at her, and so were many of the other people in the cafeteria, who started gathering from both sides of Riley.

"Like you have something to hide, Cardboard," Courtney said. Some girls call her that, which I know from the time we went to the beach isn't true, but her slightly big shirts and hoodies disguise her figure.

"Can't you see, Court?" another girl, Rain, said and got close to the confused and frightened Riley. "She's afraid people are gonna think she's a third grader!" she laughed as she suddenly pushed her.

Riley then became the ball in a catch game, with people pushing her between them, forcefully, until, out of the blue and in the blink of an eye, her shirt was off. Now she was miserable and as lost as could be, surrounded by dozens of kids, covering her bra with her hands as much as she could. Her eyes were full of shock, humiliation, horror, and tears. She didn't say anything but her face was like a giant cry for help.

The laughing actually lessened, a lot, when that happened, because they saw she actually had an okay body. But that didn't make it any less horrible, dreadful, evil, I don't have words for it.

I was beside myself. It all happened so fast that it took me a bit to realize what happened and react, but when I came to my senses, I started yelling at my monster friends, furious. "WHAT THE EFFIN' HELL IS THIS?! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE, YOU TWISTED MONSTERS?!" I yelled, while looking frantically for something to do to put an end to it.

I didn't really look at them, but I could see from the corner of my eye that my yelling made them jump. "We thought you'd…" Britney started saying, sheepishly, but that was when I noticed the fire alarm. I practically jumped on it, pulling it down.

The alarm sounded, and the sprinklers in the cafeteria started working. No one's attention was on Riley anymore, and after a moment of realization, everybody, both in the cafeteria and in the hallways started rushing outside.

I could barely see between all the people, and could barely keep standing where I was, as everybody pushed me away on their way out. This included Bryce, who was running out hysterically. Riley was still there, shirtless. I guess she somehow realized there wasn't really a fire. 'Think, think!' I mentally pushed myself, trying to figure out how to help her.

Then, with perfect timing, I caught Michael coming from the hallway.

"Michael!" I screamed, and with all my power grasped his arm and pushed him into the cafeteria.

I couldn't see him at first, I can imagine he was totally confused, I don't know if he even realized what was happening or that I was the one who pushed him in. But then, when some people moved away, I managed to catch a glimpse, seeing that he got to Riley. It was a shred of a moment, what I saw, and it was through the cracks between the others, but it was like in a movie. Michael quickly took off his buttoned shirt he had over a white t-shirt, and put it on Riley, helping her to button it up. They were soaking wet but they were smiling at each other, and even though I couldn't really see, I could swear their eyes were shining. It was like the prefect rom-com moment. That is when I knew I could stop resisting the pushes and go outside.

Walking out, I felt my gut wrenching. I hate Riley to the core. That hasn't changed. But as terrible as she may be, she did not deserve that, not in any way, not in the slightest bit.

This had gotten so out of hand. Like so many other things lately. But this had to stop, I could not allow something like that to happen again. I had to take control.

As soon as I saw my friends outside, all together, I marched over.

"Halley, look, we-" Taylor started.

I hushed her. "Zip it. I don't want to hear a word. Shut your mouths and listen."

They nodded, all seeming scared, except Ivory who wasn't part of it.

"What you did there was one of the most cruel things I've ever seen. Riley may be an obnoxious little brat who thinks she's the best thing since pocket mirrors, but she does not deserve this. Do you guys even realize what you've done? She's gonna be haunted by this for the rest of her life!" saying this brought the images of what happened back to my mind, making a shiver go through my body and a tear roll down.

Surprisingly, Ivory spoke up, "Halley, you realize you're talking like a jealous big sister?" she pointed out. I don't know how she came up with that, but I wasn't going to sidetrack.

"Whatever. You guys are going to turn yourselves in to the principal right away."

They looked at me, shocked, but didn't say a thing.

"You're gonna take whatever punishment you get, you're gonna apologize your asses off to Riley, in front of the whole school, make a giant banner if you like or write in the sky, I don't care, and you're gonna make it up to her, however she chooses."

They just stared at me.

"Got it?" I asked.

"Got it," Britney blurted out, "Yes," Jemma said, and Taylor nodded.

I left it at that and walked away, I needed some time alone.

Unfortunately, that didn't last long. A few minutes after getting to a spot where there weren't any people, the one where I made out with Bryce that morning, I felt hands wrap around my waist, and a body behind me. His body.

I turned around.

"Hey," he smiled, "wanna pick up from where we stopped?"

"Are you frickin' serious?!" I asked, incredulous.

"Um…yeah?" he said, not knowing how to respond, "Is something wrong?"

"I don't know, why don't you ask my burned body? You know, whatever would've remained of me if it was a real fire," I crossed my arms.

Bryce released me and took a step backward, "What are you talking about?"

"Oh don't you play dumb with me, I know you saw me, and you just pushed past me!"

"Baby, the whole thing was a giant mess. Come on, you know I love you, would you please forgive me, please?" he said as he put his hands on my arms, giving me his most adorable pleading look and a hint of a beautiful smile. "Come on, let's just get this over with, you know you will forgive me eventually," he winked and smiled.

"Well, what if I don't?" I asked.

"Baby, come on, we belong together, you know that," he said.

Actually, I didn't. Actually, I didn't feel we belonged together. The whole thing had gotten out of hand, and it was time to take matters into my hands.

I took a breath and turned the most serious I could be. "Look, Bryce, I, I'm sorry. I am. But this is not working anymore."

I could see that now it dawned on him that I was serious. He let go of my arms. "Are you kidding me?! You're ending this over such a stupid little thing?!" he was getting mad.

I tried staying calm, "It's not really about that. It's not _not_ about that, but, it's about my feelings, it's about how it's supposed to be right, it's supposed to be my win, my dream come true, I'm supposed to look at you all wet but with my eyes shining and all smiling, but I don't feel it. It feels, it feels wrong."

"Where the hell did you get that crap from?! Wet and smiling?! What are you talking about?!" he started shouting, "You know what? You don't know what you're saying and you don't know what you want, and you've been a total downer lately anyway. Oh, and your dearest family? They're a bunch of freaks! And you belong with them! I wasn't wrong about them, I was wrong about you! Have a good life!" he ended and started walking away.

I was in shock. He was not just a jackass, he was a major asshole! He had lied to me all along, he had been pretending the whole time! "Oh yeah?! And your biceps are way too big! It's totally disproportional!" Oh, who am I kidding. His biceps are perfect.

Without turning around, Bryce gave me the finger, as he kept walking away.

"And I'm taking a gap year! You hear that? A gap year!" I yelled to him. I don't know why I told him that, but yeah, I am! I am taking a gap year to see what I want, I am taking my life under control, and it feels good!

I was looking at Bryce going away, disappearing between his friends, when suddenly I felt something hit my leg. Looking down, I saw it was a nut. That squirrel may legit be into me.


	21. Under the spotlight

_**A/N: Chapter time again**_

 _ **A bit early hour-wise but it is already Saturday here, and I have to prepare to watch the Crazy Ex-Girlfriend finale (and by that I mean technically prepare, emotionally I am not ready and will never be! How do you say goodbye to such a masterpiece? Impossible!)**_

 _ **And I have another schedule note. As opposed to all other chapters (except those of "Celebration Aberration") chapter 23 will pick up right after the events of chapter 22, no time jump. In a way it is a two-parter, but not exactly, you'll see. Since two weeks is a big difference and I don't want people to completely forget what had happened, I will post chapter 23 a week after chapter 22. Then, I'll post chapter 24 three, and not two weeks after that, on the day it was supposed to be posted as per the usual schedule. I originally hoped I'd get a bit ahead in writing so I could post 24 two weeks after 23, but instead RL got in the way and I'm actually behind.**_

 _ **Thanks to all who read, reviewed, favorited, follow. I love reading your reviews. Special thanks to my great beta joyteach.**_

 _ **Time track: This one takes place 9 months after the previous one.**_

 _ **I do not own not even a tiny bit of The Big Bang Theory, not the theory, not the show. I only own my OCs, and to an extent this story's Halley and Michael.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 21: Under the spotlight**

 _October, 2034._

 _[Sophie.]_

It was a Friday night, when Mia and I were finishing our project for the science fair that would take place on Monday. I have always loved science fairs. Not that I need them to make cool experiments, I do that all the time, sometimes with family (except Mom, but she likes to watch), sometimes with others from the gang, sometimes alone. I also watch experiments and illustrations all the time, at the fund, at Caltech or through videos. But when there's a science fair at school I get to work with my friends, well, Mia, unless we have to be more than two, and everybody's doing science, so, I don't know, I feel more comfortable. The only thing I don't like is when people look at me when they check out my work, but in all previous fairs Mom was right by me so I just clung to her and she talked to them whenever they tried to make chit-chat.

This time we were making an exhibit using the reaction that happens when putting copper in a nitric acid solution. We would have five beakers with nitric acid and would place bundles of copper threads inside them, as if we're planting trees, which would cause a reaction that would make the solution green, and then this sort of brown-green. Then we would 'water' the trees, diluting the solution, and it would turn light blue. We'd already got all the materials for that, and all that was left was painting the background. We were drawing trees and a pond, to go with our copper trees and nitric acid pond.

I was working on the branches of the second tree when Mia, who was drawing the pond, started talking, "This is going to be the best!" she said, and I smiled in response. "Everybody will be blown away by it and ask about it, you will have a lot of explaining to do," she chuckled.

I froze. "W- Wait, what? What explaining to do? I'm not doing any explaining, that's what the written description is for, it's always been like that, whoever wants an explanation just clicks to see it," I said quickly, starting to feel my heart beat faster.

"No, that's how it is in elementary. Now that we're in middle school the description is just for the teacher. You don't remember Ms. Kendall saying we have to be able to explain what we do? They want us to do things we understand."

"Bu- But I understand this, I can explain it, but not to a bunch of people I don't know!" My heart was definitely beating faster at that point, and I had all those thoughts running through my head. What if I forget to explain some part? What if I mix up the words? What if I can't get any words out? What if I stutter? Or it all comes out in a croak, or a screech? And if I start sweating and get sweat stains on my clothes and start stinking? And everybody just stands and stares at me and more and more people come because it's so freaky and they start laughing and I'm like this circus freak with a spotlight on me so everybody can see everything that's wrong with me. And then I accidentally speak Klingon or a language that doesn't exist and people start thinking maybe I'm some sort of alien that wants to take over the world, because a little 12-year-old who looks like a 9-year-old blonde with big eyes and glasses would be the perfect look for an alien to seem innocuous and not raise much suspicion!

Mia noticed I was getting anxious, she's been my very best friend since the first day of school so she knows what's going on when I freeze and stop talking. She stood up to look at me and said, trying to calm me down, "Sophie, you can do it, you explained it so well to Ms. Kendall, you were so on it and you didn't miss a thing or make any mistakes. And I will be there with you, and your family will be there too. It will be fine."

"No, no, I can't. You should do it," I said.

"How 'bout each of us says a part? I know what we did but I'd probably get some of the details mixed up, I'm not you, I keep forgetting the names and the fine details of the reaction."

"No, you do it, I'll teach you, we have all weekend to rehearse. Please…?" I pleaded.

Mia sighed, "I don't know, Sophie, it was your idea, and maybe it'll be good fo-" she started saying, but then we heard Uncle Sheldon yelling from the Cooper-Fowler house.

"No you're not!" he yelled. There was a pause and then, "You will not scoff at me young mister!" Then "Do not walk to the door, both of you! Do not open it! Amy!" Then we heard his voice more strongly, I assume because the door was opened, "Don't you get on that line! I said don't!" There was a short pause, then Sheldon yelled more strongly, "And don't do the chicken dance in the line!" Then yelled "Huh! I still got my authority!"

When I asked Stevie about it later, he said he went with his mom to a neurobiology lecture. Stevie loves neurobiology, he says it's the greatest science field because it includes the study of the processes we use to study every other science. He's been going with his mom to lectures and spending time in her lab a lot lately. If you knew Uncle Sheldon, that would have been enough for you to figure this out. He thinks his field, theoretical physics, is the absolute best and Stevie preferring another field is driving him crazy. I'm not sure what I'd like to study when I grow up, but my dad says every field is equally important.

I feel sorry for Stephen, but at the time, I was happy with the distraction. When Uncle Sheldon stopped yelling I quickly got back to work closely on the branches, hoping the discussion on presenting the project wouldn't continue.

"Sophie…" Mia started.

Thankfully, Riley and her friends just walked down the stairs.

I felt Riley's hand laying lain gently on my shoulder. I turned to look at her. "Wonderful job, Sissy!" she said softly, smiling. She then turned to look at Mia, "You guys are doing amazingly!"

"Thanks," we both said.

Randi and Irene were looking at our painting, and at the one beaker we had nearby with the copper and diluted nitric acid, so we would see how it would look when painting.

"So this one is the main thing, right?" Randi asked.

"Yes, we will have five of those," I answered, "we'll create the reaction in real time, the painting is for background."

"Oh, so it'll be like trees in a pond!" Irene said.

"Exactly," I smiled.

"But how does it look before the reaction?" Randi asked.

"The solution will be colorless. See, the solution is nitric acid. The threads are copper. When you put copper in nitric acid, the Cu2+ ions, of the copper, and the nitrate ions, of the nitric acid, coordinate in a way that makes for the solution to turn green, and then this sort of brown-green. Then we will dilute it, and the water will displace the nitrate ions around the copper so the solution will turn blue, like you see here."

"Wow, that's so cool!" Randi said.

While the girls were looking at the beaker, Mia looked at me, raising her eyebrow.

I knew what she was trying to say. "That doesn't count," I whispered to her. I've known Randi and Irene for years, this was not like talking to a bunch of random strangers.

"This is seriously cool Soph," Irene said, "but we have to go, the party starts in ten minutes," she said, now looking at Riley and Randi. Riley said there was a new girl in their grade and she invited everybody to a party at her house. Riley wasn't much into it, we're both not really party people, but she said her friends really wanted to go so she gave in.

"Calm down," Riley said to Irene, "No one's gonna be on time anyway."

"Everybody's gonna get there at some point, and the fewer girls hanging around when Nathan sees me, the better," Irene said.

Riley rolled her eyes, "You do know he is aware of the existence of other girls, right? If he wants you it shouldn't matter how many girls are around."

"It does, for impact, I want him to see me in this dress and there will be this glow around me, not for real but like, in his head, and he'll think 'Woah that's the girl who's sitting behind me in Social Studies? I never realized how hot she is! I gotta ask her out and give her my Mathlete t-shirt!'"

We all snickered.

"Okay, but take things slow, or the next thing you know you'll be picking extracurriculars together!" Riley joked.

"Ahh, the dream," Irene said dreamily.

Riley shook her head, smiling.

"Well, I don't need to do extracurriculars together, but getting two words out of Matt would be nice," Randi said, "So far the most I've got is a minute of him looking at me, and then he just went past me."

"That's because you were standing in his way and blinking at him like crazy," Irene said.

"It looked like your eyelids were having a wrestling match," Riley said.

"I was batting my eyes! You know, in Japan they have a name for women who are too straightforward and active in their courting, restraint is important," Randi defended.

"Just because you read ten mangas a week, doesn't mean you're Japanese!" Irene said. "Anyway, let's just go! Who knows, maybe Riley will finally pick a guy," she said, looking at Riley with a smile, Randi following.

Riley scoffed, "Would you stop?! I told you nobody's flirting with me!"

Irene shook her head and sighed. "Okay, putting aside all the guys who are _not at all_ in to you," she shared a look with Randi, making Riley roll her eyes, "If you could choose someone to be your boyfriend, or your girlfriend but your obsession with Dustin from 'Wizards of the Palace' tells me otherwise," to which Riley blushed (she has a big crush on him), "who would it be? And don't start with that plausibility crap, just, hypothetically."

All eyes turned on Riley, whose eyes turned wide. "Umm..I.. Wait, weren't you in a hurry? One moment you can't be a minute late and the other you're wasting time on some stupid hypothetical questions, you know Nathan would probably like his girl more consistent," Riley shook her head and started heading to the door.

Irene and Randi followed her out, sharing a look.

I sure hope there won't be so much boy-talk when I'm fifteen. It's so complicated and.. frightening. But I had mastered the art of being unnoticed, I call it 'Wallflower power'. Some superheroes have invisibility powers, so why shouldn't this sort of real-life equivalent be considered a power? I'm really good at it, and this way I don't have to talk to the boys or to the girls who aren't my friends. In fact, most boys don't even know I exist, which I'm happy about. Yes, there was that morning Raiden from homeroom saw me on the way to class and thought I was lost and took me across the fence to elementary. I had to sneak back when he wasn't looking, passing through the old cleaning closet everybody says is haunted. But hey, I managed to hold my breath so I only inhaled that strong chemical stench for a few milliseconds.

Back to non-potentially-lethal chemistry, Mia and I finished our work about half an hour later, and then I called Mom, Dad and Maxi to see it.

"Oh my God!" Mom said, "That's amazing! And so beautiful! And brilliant!" she looked at me and grinned, "Just like my baby!" She hugged me, well, squeezed me, tight. Normally I would be embarrassed, but Mia had heard my mom call me baby over a million times.

"It really is impressive, girls," Dad said, grinning, "Very inventive, and thought out."

"The color's really pretty!" Maxi said.

Turning to him, I saw that he was getting close to the sample beaker, so I ran and took him into a hug, "Thank you, my beloved little brother!"

Maxi was not fooled for a second, "Relax, I won't break anything! It would be nice if someone trusted me for a change," he sighed, released from the hug and then accidentally knocked down the grape juice bottle I had on a stool, thankfully plastic and empty.

The weekend was nice and fun, the gang came to our house on Saturday and on Sunday Riley, Maxi and I had a 'Wizards of the Palace' marathon. But then came Sunday night, the night before the fair. I had a feeling this would happen. As soon as my head hit the pillow the thoughts started running. Thoughts about everything that could go wrong in the fair, and thus my life, and thus the lives of my family and friends. An hour went by, then another, then a half, and sleep wasn't near.

I decided to get up and walk around the house or something, maybe doing something else would help. I was doing my best to be quiet, but I had to flush the toilet. That was enough to wake up Maxi, who's a fairly light sleeper.

"Are you alright?" he asked, standing beside me as I was closing the bathroom door, almost giving me a heart attack.

I calmed my breath and then said, quietly, "Go to sleep, Maxi, it's the middle of the night."

"You're nervous about the fair, aren't you?" he asked.

"Yes, yes I am, but you can't do anything about it, there's no point for you to be up."

"If you don't sleep enough you won't perform as well tomorrow, sleep deprivation hurts almost everything."

"Yes, I know. I'm also nervous about that. I'm too nervous to fall asleep, and too nervous about not falling asleep, so way too nervous to fall asleep," I said, "Now I'm also too nervous about how being too nervous about not falling asleep makes me too nervous to fall asleep."

"Okay," Maxi said.

"What? No Maxi, not o-" I knew where this was heading.

"I'm gonna do it," he said, with a nod.

"Maxi, don't-"

"I'm gonna get you to fall asleep."

'Great', I thought, knowing he wouldn't go to sleep until I did. When Maxi takes on a 'mission' it's almost impossible to make him give up on it.

We ended up trying all sorts of methods over the next hour. Several sorts of meditation, breathing techniques and noises of all colors. In the end, it was actually when Maxi was going over the list of what we did and what we were yet to try, that I felt my eyes closing.

So I got some sleep before the fair, but I was still determined not to do any talking. We had many people coming to watch our project every time we operated it (which was every 20 minutes), and they seemed to like it. Mia explained our work, but she couldn't remember the details of the reaction, just that copper and nitric acid react that way. She looked at me every time when she was talking to people, but I was too scared. I just cuddled into my mom.

At one point, between showings, Mom was talking to Damon Samuels' mom, and Dad tried to convince me to try speaking.

"But what if I mess up?" I asked.

"Then you can apologize and correct yourself," he said.

"But what if they laugh at me and think I'm weird and tell other people and they laugh and-"

"Princess, they won't laugh at you," he tried to calm me down.

"Are you sure?"

"Well, Umm.. no, I guess I cannot say for sure," he frowned, thinking., "There's always the chance, there's always a slight chance for many things really, even the most unexpected ones, one cannot predict the future-"

"So they could laugh at me, everybody could laugh, and point and-"

I was cut off by Stephen who came up to me, "Sophie, may I have a word with you?" he asked, looking intensely into my eyes. He's not that good with eye contact, sometimes he doesn't do it, sometimes it's too intense or kinda weird. When it's intense and long it's usually when there's something important, so I agreed and followed him a few steps away.

"I would like to inform you of an insight I have gained that is relevant to your current situation," he said.

"Um, okay."

"Those who speak get the major part of the credit," he said.

"What credit? I think I need you to take a step backwards, or maybe two or three" I asked. Sometimes it's like he's starting the conversation in the middle, so we ask for him to go back.

"I have been part of group projects, and have witnessed others presenting group projects, since third grade. Based on my observations, those who take part in oral presentation of said projects tend to be given the majority of the credit for the groups' work, regardless of their actual contribution. There also seems to be a certain correlation between the amount of speaking one does and the credit one's given, but I have not calculated it."

"How did you get that? How do you measure credit?" I asked.

"Excellent question," he said, "That is an important limitation of research concerning this issue. However, I believe for preliminary conclusions such as mine, it is enough to use the way others refer to the work in question as an indication of credit being granted. I have noticed others tend to refer to the work as belonging to the person, or persons, who spoke, and 'their friends', in a way akin to first-authorship on a paper – a paper is described as being written by its first author and 'their colleagues'."

"So you're saying that by not speaking I don't get enough credit for my work."

"That is correct. You have contributed to this work more than Mia did, and so you should be first author."

"If I don't get under the spotlight, then I'll remain in the shadow."

"That would depend on the lighting in the room you're in," Stevie said, confused. He tends to take things literally.

"No, sorry, that was a metaphor," I explained.

"I see," he said, and after a second chuckled, "That is a metaphor as well."

"Yeah," I smiled. Then I sighed, "I understand what you're saying, but, I can't speak in front of so many people I don't know."

"My social skills group leader says if one wants to do something new one first has to do it for the first time. I have pointed out the problems in this sentence several times, but he maintains it is correct. Perhaps it makes sense to a neurotypical mind," Stephen said.

"There is something in it…" I said.

"Also, watching this great injustice is making my arms twitch, and I would rather avoid permanent arm damage. I need them to turn the pages of my comic books."

Ten minutes after that we had another showing. Just like before, when we were finished the people applauded, and then started asking how we did it. Mia was about to answer, but I decided to give it a try.

"Umm.." I started, and then took a big breath, trying to gather the courage.

"What you see here is a rather clever utilization of the reaction between copper and nitric acid, Cu(s) + 4HNO3(aq) — Cu(NO3)2(aq) + 2NO2(g) + 2H2O(l), creating a green-brown shade. A dilution of the solution makes for a blue shade, 3Cu(s) + 8HNO3(aq) — 3Cu(NO3)2(aq) + 2NO(g) + 4H2O(l). Sophie here had figured this could appear similar to a tree in a pond, and decided to add a drawing in the background to make sure others grasp her intentions," Stevie said.

He was then asked how I got the idea and answered that. He wanted me to get proper credit, I knew it, but he didn't notice he was now talking for me. That's your typical atypical Stevie.

The attention was on Stephen, and it was comfortable for me, but I knew I was again in the shadow, maybe with a tiny flashlight on me.

Then, this one woman, who was looking closely at the drawing, said "The chemistry is impressive, but I gotta say, these colors are just beautiful, where did you buy the dyes?"

"I made them," I blurted out.

"Really?" she looked at me, surprised.

"Yes. They're made of natural ingredients, red cabbage and baking soda for blue, spinach for green, beets for red, coffee for brown, turmeric for yellow." I went on to explain how I made the dyes. Then a man said he didn't understand what Stevie said about the reaction, and I explained it to him, and then to other people who asked. It was weird, it was like the words just flew out of my mouth. I knew what to say, I knew the facts of how these things worked. It turned out I could do it after all. As time went by, I even stopped thinking about how I was speaking, and how much I was speaking, and whether my pitch was high enough or low enough for others, and whether they understood what I said or were just nodding to avoid embarrassing me, I hope they weren't, maybe they were? Was I speaking too fast? Or too slowly? Oh no, I've got to start preparing for next year's fair.


	22. Moving on

_**A/N: Chapter time!**_

 _ **And time to remind you my plan is to post the next one next week instead of two weeks from today, and then chapter 24 three weeks after chapter 23 (I wish I could post it two weeks after 23 but I haven't finished writing it and I don't like posting when I'm not ahead enough in writing, but hey, 23 is suuuper long!). The reason for this change is that 23 picks up where 22 ends, as opposed to other chapters in this story (this one for example is 6 months after the previous one).**_

 _ **The Big Bang Theory is about to end, but I have so much (too much) planned for this story, so I'm going to keep it up after May 16. Hopefully somebody will keep reading :)**_

 _ **Thank you so much to everybody who reads, follows, favorited, reviewed. I really love reading your thoughts. Special thanks to my great beta reader joyteach.**_

 _ **The Big Bang Theory belongs to Lorre and Prady. I only own my OCs and to some extent these Halley and Michael.**_

 _ **Happy Passover to all who celebrate!**_

* * *

 **Chapter 22: Moving on**

 _April, 2035._

 _[Riley.]_

Sometimes in life you get to the point where it's just time for you to move on. To finish a certain stage and go on to the next one. In some cases, there are norms and laws that make the decision for you, but they don't always fit everyone. Sometimes you've got to figure this out for yourself.

That's what I have been trying to do for the last several months. I've also been trying to figure out how to say it, and when. I knew it was quite the big deal. I've been gathering the courage, and there were times I almost said it, but ended up backing off. It was in our meeting with Principal Elliot when I finally did. It may have not been the best, but I knew I had to speak up.

See, two or three times a year my parents and I would come to meet the principal. Nothing bad, it was just to discuss my studies and plan ahead, since, as you know, I've always studied different stuff from my peers. Up until three years ago it was more advanced material, with some time for reading books and journals of choice (approved by a teacher). Then I finished my finals, so they would find me courses to study, mostly Advanced Placement and nonmandatory classes, and let me have more time to read on my own. We always had those meetings long before the time we'd discuss, so although this one was held in March, it was to discuss the next school year.

In elementary and middle school we would meet with the school counsellor and whoever was my teacher at the time, but Principal Elliot had decided to take it upon himself. He was always super nice and kind and really tried to come up with new ideas. That's why I had a hard time saying what I did.

"Well, Hofstadters, it is no secret that it's getting harder and harder for us to find something for Riley here to do," he said, smiling, "We need to work hard to humor this astonishing brain of yours, young lady."

I smiled awkwardly. Daddy smiled as well and Mom, as expected, grinned from ear to ear, these kinds of sayings matching what she always says about me. Actually, Mom was always very upbeat in those meetings, saying how fun it was to be having such a good time at the principal's office.

"We have had some talks to figure out what we could do for you next year. We are in talks for a new AP course, so there's at least one course we could offer, and we may start a music composition workshop. You will also be getting more self-learning time. That's as per usual. Other than that, your Chemistry teacher, Ms. Awad had an interesting idea. She offered to use a few of her free hours to give you advanced private classes in the lab. You could work on your own projects, maybe do some experiments you find interesting. As you know, I myself used to teach History, we could have our own private hour on History if you'd like."

"That's a very kind offer, sir, thank you," Daddy said.

"No need to thank us, we wouldn't have offered this if we didn't enjoy teaching your daughter so much," he answered.

I was so uncomfortable. They were willing to do so much for me, and had always been so good to me and went out of their way for me. I didn't want to hurt them, but if I didn't say it then, they would start working on their plans, and if I made the decision, it would all be to no avail.

"Cub, what's going on?" Mom asked me, softly. She noticed I was nervous on the way but I said I was fine. I knew they didn't believe me, but they left it aside for the time being.

I looked into her questioning eyes. I knew that was the time to bring it up. That was our deal, that when I felt this way, I'd say it.

"I was.. I was just thinking…" I started saying, slowly, "We're making these really cool plans but.. What if… What if we don't need to plan for next year? What if I don't stay here? What if I move on?"

I looked from one to the other, uncomfortable. They all seemed surprised.

"Do you mean you want to graduate?" Daddy finally asked.

I nodded, "Yeah, to graduate and move on, to a university," I said.

You may be wondering if that's an option, since it was already March when we had the meeting, but I knew I could apply late. Every year since I'd finished my finals we had these people from all those universities, Princeton, Harvard, Yale, UCLA, Brown, even Oxford, trying to get me to apply. Mostly, they kept pushing their multi-university programs they have for top students, where you can study at a university close to home, and they use video chats and holograms for courses from the other university (or universities). That way I wouldn't have to move away from home. They obviously knew about me through my daddy and the fund, but we don't know how they found out I finished my finals. Anyway, they always say I can apply anytime, even a day before the academic year starts.

My parents looked at each other. "Well, you know that's always an option, Cub," Daddy said, "But, what made you come up with it now?"

"Is something wrong?" Mom asked.

"No, no," I answered.

"If it's about our ideas, we can think of something else, or something more," Principal Elliot said.

"No, it's not that, really. Everything's fine, I like school, really, I like it here, I have my friends, and the teachers are good and all nice to me, and you do so much for me. But, I've been thinking about it for a while now and I just think it's time for me to move on. I really want to start studying for my degrees, to be in a university and to do research, and I feel, maybe I'm ready for it now," I explained.

Okay, I know what you may be thinking. Yes, I've been bullied, and it was quite rough in some cases. But that's gotten much better since the incident last year.

Oh right, I didn't tell you about that… Well, one day I went into the cafeteria and suddenly found myself without my shirt. Just one of those things that happen every now and then, right? I honestly have no idea why. They just took my hoodie and then my shirt while everybody laughed or stared. Luckily, it only lasted a couple of minutes before the fire alarm sounded. Maybe luckily isn't the right word, because there wasn't a real fire, someone just pulled the alarm. I don't know who it was. Everybody rushed out but I didn't because I figured that out. Then Michael (who wasn't the one who pulled the alarm) suddenly got in there and saved me, giving me his shirt. The shirt was soaking wet, like the both of us, but it was kind of heroic.

While it was a nightmare, and one of the worst moments of my life, it had stopped all the 'Flatsy' and 'Cardboard' calls, because everybody saw that wasn't true. I also get much less of the 'Nerd', 'Boy' or 'Know-it-all' brands. Maybe it's because those girls got punished. Principal Elliot was away taking care of his mother that week, so substitute Vice Principal Night took care of it, and she was... an interesting person. She made them walk through the entire school for the entire day and tell everyone they were a disgrace and had "serious inner work to do". It was weird, but apparently effective, probably because they were popular seniors, from Halley's squad (not including Halley, she can be mean but she's not that cruel).

I still get looks, and the occasional snarky comment about how I think I'm better than everyone else, but it's less than ever, and I have years of experience dealing with that. So that's not it. I just feel ready. I'm almost 16 now, and I won't have to move away from home. I can't wait to start the road to being an experimental physicist, like Daddy. And no, I don't want to do this just to be like him, although that's a great reason as it is. I really love it. Physics is fascinating. There's so much we can learn about the universe, and so many amazing discoveries have been made. Of course, Uncle Sheldon tried to get me to prefer theoretical physics, but I love the challenge of designing experiments to see if the ideas people came up with do seem to be true, and the thought that goes into doing it right.

Also, I'm getting more and more bored at school, especially now that Michael doesn't spend much time with me there. He doesn't spend the two free periods we both have with me anymore, and is rarely with me in recesses. It's ever since he got back with Jess, at the beginning of the school year, that he spends almost all his free time at school with her, giggling, walking hand in hand, kissing… It makes sense, that's how it is. Of course he'd spend all that time with her. Of course they'd be all cutesy and cuddly and flirty. She's 'his girl'. I'm fine with it. No, I'm great, I'm happy for them. I like Jess, she's great, and she's Michael's kind of girl, so it really is great. Great great great.

Back to the meeting, I saw Principal Elliot was disappointed.

"I'm not sure about it yet," I clarified, "I've just been thinking."

Mom smiled at me and nodded, "It's good that you told us, Cub. And you can do whatever you want, everybody wants my super-genius baby girl to study at their university!"

I rolled my eyes, smiling, there's Mom being Mom again.

"I think we should take some time to go think about it, if that's okay by you, Mr. Elliot," Daddy said.

"Of course," Principal Elliot said, "We love having you here, Riley, but sooner or later we're gonna have to let you go," he smiled. "I understand and I respect your feelings." He turned to Mom and Daddy, "Dr. and Mrs. Hofstadter, as Riley's parents, this is ultimately your choice. However, we highly recommend here, in such cases, that before taking such a big step, the child go through psychodiagnostic assessment." (Quick note on Principal Elliot, when he says 'Highly recommend', he means 'Do it'.)

We were confused by that.

"Why would we need that?" Mom asked, "Riley was tested at 6 and got this crazy high score, and we really don't need any tests to know she's ridiculously brilliant. University will be a piece of cake for her."

"While it will give you an updated assessment of Riley's cognitive skills, the assessment also looks into emotional aspects, and will hopefully give you all a better feel of whether Riley is ready for this big transition," Principal Elliot responded.

"I don't know about that, Sir," Daddy said. I could see he was wary. "I know there are wonderful psychologists out there, doing a wonderful job, but I am not comfortable having my child go through this, given certain scars I am carrying."

I'd heard Daddy talk about scars and a complicated childhood, but when we (Sophie, Maxi and I) ask he says it's in the past and we shouldn't worry about it. We believe it's something about Grandmother, his mom, because he and Mom are always tense around her and they never let us talk to her alone. She's also really strange, she's cold and distant. It's not like that with Grandpa, Daddy's dad, but we don't see or talk with him frequently. Grandmother is a neuroscientist and a psychiatrist, so that would make sense in that context. She's not practicing psychiatry though, her license was revoked, I was never told exactly why, just that she wrote something controversial.

Principal Elliot gave Daddy a knowing nod, "I understand. But I hope you can overcome that for your daughter. I believe this would be good for her, for all of you. I can give you some names I trust dearly, I am sure they will take great care of you."

My parents and I talked about it for the next couple of days. We were leaning toward my graduating, but decided to go through with the assessment first.

So, the week after the meeting, Mom and Daddy went to meet the psychologist, Dr. Campbell-Mayer. When they came back, they seemed to be in a good mood, and told me she was very nice. The week after that I had my first meeting with Dr. Campbell-Mayer, who told me to call her Sharon. She was about Mom's age and about Aunt Bernie's height, and had dark blond hair, blue eyes and glasses. She was indeed very nice and I didn't feel nervous with her. I wasn't too nervous before going in the first time either, but Mom insisted on coming with me and waiting for me outside. The other times she agreed that I'd go alone.

I had four meetings, two a week, for two weeks, each lasting about an hour and a half. We did something different every time. The first time she started by asking me all sorts of questions to get to know me, and some questions about wanting to graduate and study physics. The first couple of minutes I noticed she was thinking about something. She was surprised I caught that, and more so when I guessed it was because I talk like my mom and have these similar gestures. Many people say that when they meet us. The rest of the time she gave me all kinds of tasks. They were kinda nice, especially when I knew I was right.

Two weeks after the last meeting, Sharon called to invite us to her clinic for feedback. She asked to talk with me alone first, which made me nervous, but I thought it may just be the way they do it.

So that's how we got to today.

We got to the clinic, and Sharon asked me in and asked my parents to sit down on the couch in the waiting room.

We got in and sat down, and then Sharon smiled at me and asked, "So, how are you doing today?"

I smiled nervously, "Okay. Kinda eager to find out the results. Um.. I'm also a little bit nervous that you asked to talk with me alone first… Is that the usual procedure?"

Sharon smiled, "We do this in some cases."

That made me tense up, and she caught that.

"That seems to make you nervous," she said.

"Did I do something bad?" I asked, worried.

"No, you did nothing bad," she answered, smiling sympathetically.

I let out a breath.

"I asked you in to talk about something that came up in your assessment, that you did not talk about when we met, and that I think your parents may not be aware of. I thought it would be better to talk about it just the two of us, before we let your parents in."

"Okay…?"

"Riley, when I asked, you told me you were doing fine in school socially. When I then asked you about the events your parents mentioned, of your being bullied by your peers in fifth grade, you confirmed that and said it was okay now, and did not elaborate."

"Yeah…?" I said nervously, wondering where she was going with that.

She looked at me and, in a soft tone, said, "There are some things in your assessment that made me suspect there may have been more than that. If that's true, it is important that you tell me."

I hesitated. The only ones who knew about everything I went through at school were my closest friends, and that's excluding my sister and Tivo. But Sharon said it was important, she wouldn't have called me in alone if it wasn't, and I felt I could tell her. So I took a deep breath, and started telling her about all the bullying and unfair treatment I've gotten at school. I did exclude names, because I didn't want to get anybody in trouble, and I also excluded Halley's bullying of me out of school, to not get her in trouble, but also because all she does these days is make comments and dismissive gestures, I don't mind that. Other than that, it all spilled out of me, and soon I had tears falling.

After I finished telling it all, I took another breath and said, "People think everything's just easy and awesome for me because I'm a genius, and I'm also considered good looking, I don't care for that but they do, and they're right, I have a wonderful life, I have those things and I also have an amazing family and great friends, but sometimes it's just _so hard_ to be different, to feel that you just don't belong. And everybody makes assumptions about me that couldn't be further from the truth, and they just stick to them and judge me based on them and I can't do anything about it!"

Sharon was being empathetic all along, she was saying how hard and painful the things I said sounded. Then she said I was being so brave to tell her all that. But then she said, "I realize your parents don't know about this…?"

I looked at her, sighed, and looked down, "No. I know I was supposed to tell them, but, they do so much for me, and they love me so much, and I know it will hurt them so bad… Especially my mom. I don't want them to be hurt. And I'm okay dealing with it on my own, it really is much better now, I swear I'm not asking to graduate to escape it," I looked up, pleading.

"I believe you, and I can see how much you care about your parents. But this is a huge burden to carry on your own, and you're a child. Children need adults to protect them. I can bring in plenty of research to support that," she said, with a small smile at the end.

That brought up my own little smile.

Sharon took a breath, and said what I feared she would, "Riley, your parents should be told about your being bullied. I think it will be better for you, and for them, that you tell them yourself, and I'll be here to support you. But if you don't, I will tell them myself."

I looked at her for a moment, coming to grips with that, and then nodded slowly, "Okay. I'll tell them. But can I have a moment to calm down a bit? My parents will notice I've been crying right away, especially my mom, she always gets it, she says it's her 'Mommy sense'," I smiled at that.

"Of course," Sharon said.

I took a few minutes, and then told Sharon it was okay, and she called my parents in. Of course, they immediately realized something had happened. Mom only had to look at my face for a second before she said I'd been crying, for 5-10 minutes. They both looked really worried. They brought their chairs very close to mine and as soon as they sat down Mom wrapped her arms around me and Daddy rubbed my back. I did my best to keep it together. I told them I was okay, then Sharon suggested that we start, saying everything would be cleared up, and I nodded in agreement. I could see they were uneasy with that, but they agreed and turned to Sharon.

Sharon started, going over what she wrote. She said we should ask questions and make comments as we wished. She started going over details about me and also a bit about my family. She said we had very close family relationships. There was something about Daddy having a "highly adverse" relationship with Grandmother, and Grandfather being mostly absent, but there was no more than that. I have a feeling they agreed to leave it at that.

She had a lot about my past, going back as far as pregnancy. She mentioned Mom at the time feeling eager to meet me, but also loving having me inside her and not wanting that to end. That did not surprise me, it's classic Mom. She always tells me and my siblings how she wished she could keep us with her all day, have us in a kangaroo pouch, or, sometimes, put us back in her uterus. Creepy, I know, but you get used to it. What did surprise me was that thing Mom apparently said, that when they found out she was pregnant, she pledged to give me her all, because she would never be good enough for me. Mom's always done her best for us, but where did she get the idea that she wouldn't be good enough? That's crazy, she's awesome!

Then Sharon said some things about me, that I was sweet and charming and had great interpersonal skills. My parents grinned and Daddy said "That's our Cub." It was nice of Sharon to say those things, so I forgave that she wrote I was beautiful. She doesn't know I hate when people say that, and she also mentioned stuff like my clothes and my resemblance to my mom in speech and mannerisms, so maybe she just had to write everything.

She went on to talk about my results on the cognitive part. She said she was really impressed by me, that she had seen several gifted children and adults but "never had anything like this" (which makes sense since there's supposedly a small percentage of people with scores equal to or higher than mine), and that I had outstanding skills in all aspects. She said my IQ was in the range of 173-183, which is similar to my scores at 6 (they prefer giving ranges rather than a concrete number). We expected that but still enjoyed hearing it. Mom and Daddy kissed my cheeks and Mom gushed over me as usual.

Then there was the emotional part. I assumed the bullying would come up there, so I was nervous and did not pay much attention when we got there. I remember Sharon said some things about my relationship with my parents, and having a good support system. There was something about being very sensitive to others' feelings and needs and caring a lot for my parents. She talked about that for some time, I don't know why, I wasn't focused, and it's a good thing, what's there to talk about? After that she talked about my experiences of being different. I listened closely then because I had a feeling she was about to bring up the bullying. And I was right.

Sharon took a breath and looked at me, "Now, as you know, I had a talk with Riley before we called you in," she started, and I looked down, "There was something I noticed in the assessment that had me worried. Riley was very brave to talk to me about it, and she was very brave to agree to try and tell you about it herself, even though it's not easy for her."

I took a breath and looked up, seeing my parents' eyes on me, with concern written all over their faces. I took another breath, and started telling them, everything I'd told Sharon. I finished by apologizing for not telling them, and saying I was fine dealing with it on my own and didn't want them to be worried and hurt.

Mom and Daddy were shocked and I could see how much it pained them. They both had tears rolling down their faces. I felt Mom tighten her embrace by the minute. She seemed crushed. When I was done talking I looked up at her and she was pale and almost frozen, the only movement in her face being the tears that kept falling. She seemed like she was in another place.

"It really is okay now, Mommy," I said, trying to get her out of it, "It wasn't so bad, other than the shirt thing, and that was an exception and it was short, I'm over it."

But that didn't seem to make any difference. She looked at me but she didn't respond. I knew it would be hard on her, she always says we kids are part of her. It's obviously figurative speaking, but sometimes it really feels that way. Sometimes when I'm hurt it's like she's been hurt herself, sometimes even more than me. I remember after that time in fifth grade, that time everybody yelled at me to get out when we were planning the Autumn Fair, the one my parents knew about, I got over it but it took me time to fall asleep, and then I heard Mom crying over it. She also cried the next night, and then for months she kept trying to find out who was involved and acted like a guard dog whenever she came to school. What would happen now, after everything I'd told them?

Daddy put his hand softly on my cheek and turned my head to him, his other hand resting on my lower back (the part he could reach while Mom enveloped me tightly). "Cub, I- I'm _so_ , _so_ sorry that you went through that, I-" he shook his head, "This is terrible, I, I'm devastated." I lowered my head, but he lifted it gently, and looked me deeply in the eyes, "But I'm glad you told us. You're so brave for doing that, and it is so important that we know. Cub, you must know you don't deserve any bit of everything that happened."

I nodded, "I know. They have a hard time dealing with me being different, it's not my fault. And difference is important, everything started from different particles meeting each other, 'The Big Bang'," I gave him a smile, repeating what he had said to me many times when I was having problems due to being different.

Daddy returned a smile, "Yes. And you are such a wonderful girl, we have this in writing now," he chuckled, "None of those things the other kids said or did to you says anything about you. It is all about them. Cub, we will never let anything like this happen to you again. I know you may not want to worry us, but whenever someone hurts you, or threatens you, you _have_ to tell us. Always. You understand?"

I twisted my lips and then nodded, "Yeah…"

"You're our child, it's our job to protect you. What should be prevented is your being hurt, not our knowing that you've been hurt. As much as we want, we can't be with you all the time, so we need you to tell us what's going on," he said, and then kissed my forehead.

Telling my parents all that was really, really hard. But it felt good to get it off my chest. I hadn't even realized how much it was weighing on me. And Daddy did help me feel better. He can't change what had happened, but he made me feel better about it. But that shouldn't come as a surprise, he's the best.

I guess it was fitting that it happened at this time. I was putting everything out there, now that I'm closing this 'chapter' of my life (or maybe 'chapters'? 10 years is a lot), before moving on to the next one(s). Because that is what I'm doing. Sharon said it was our decision, but she feels that I am ready to go to university. She said I will be different there too, since most students will be older than me, but I may find like-minded people, talented themselves, and will be doing what I love and am good at. She said I should choose whatever field I'd like, and to remember that I could always change it, and not to be afraid of changing it because I'm still at an age when people figure out who they are and what they want. So my parents and I agreed that I'm gonna graduate this year, and start at UCLA next year in one of those multi-university programs. She also suggested we come for family meetings if we'd like, to help us deal with being close and together while also being independent, or something like that, and also to talk about the bullying if we feel the need.

Leaving school and starting university will sure be a big change, but I am excited about it, university will be awesome!

But I'm also still really worried about Mommy, she hasn't responded much since I told them everything, not in Sharon's clinic and not at home. Sharon tried to approach her and offered to talk to her in person or on the phone, free of charge, whenever she'd like, but Mom just nodded. She seemed to be in total shock. I really hope she'll be okay.

* * *

 _ **A/N: To be continued...**_

 ** _Also, a small note: I obviously totally made up the name Sharon Campbell-Mayer. I just wanted to specifically mention that since it is given as a mental health professional's name, and who knows, there may be someone by that name out there._ **_**  
**_


	23. Part of me

_**A/N: Not usual chapter time, but chapter time nonetheless :)**_

 _ **As promised, here's chapter 23, which I decided to post a week, and not two, after 22, because it picks up where 22 left. No time difference. Chapter 24 will be posted when it was originally supposed to be, three weeks from today. That's a long time, but this one's the longest yet so there's a lot to read. You can split you reading of it, in whatever point you find right, as opposed to chapter 13 I don't have a recommended stoppoing point this time.**_

 _ **Thank you so much to all who read, favorited, follow, reviewed. I absolutely love reading your reviews. (This time, see if you capture the nods to other TV shows/movies and if you do tell me in a review/PM (: ) Special thanks to my wonderful beta reader joyteach.**_

 _ **I do not own The Big Bang Theory. Lorre and Prady do. I just like to take their characters in different directions than the ones they chose. I only own my OCs and some of these versions of Halley and Michael.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 23: Part of me**

 _April, 2035._

 _[Penny.]_

Okay, where do I start this? This is going to be a LOT. You know how sometimes in life there's this totally unpredictable chain of events? There's this one thing that ends up leading to other things you'd never expect. I certainly did not expect my baby's psychological assessing..thingy to end up in me having major personal revelations, and definitely not in the middle of a cornfield in Nebraska.

See, we had this assessment thingy because Riley had decided she wanted to graduate and start at a university. My brilliant Cub had finished her finals almost three years ago, but at the time we felt it would be better for her to stay in school. She agreed, and we'd decided that she would tell us when she thought it was time. About a month ago she brought it up. If it was up to me, I would agree right away, sure it's hard to see her growing up so fast, but she's ready for that and she would love it at university. But her principal told us to get a psychologist to assess her to see if she's ready. He said they can look into emotional issues to figure this out. Leonard had some trouble with it because of his mom and how she'd distorted psychology to basically abuse him emotionally, but we thought we should look into it and meet the psychologist. We know Principal Elliot loves Riley and thought this was for her good. Dr. Campbell-Mayer, Sharon, was great and very empathetic toward Leonard, she was impressed by what he'd become in spite of all that he'd been through (and she's right to be). So, we'd decided to go through with it.

The bottom line was not a surprise. Sharon felt Riley was up to going to university. Most other lines were also expected, I know my Cub's an amazing kid, unbelievably smart and incredibly sweet, friendly and kind-hearted. But there was something else, that I didn't see coming. Riley didn't tell Sharon at first but Sharon figured it out and talked to her, and had her tell us. It turned out our baby, our little angel, she's been bullied in school for _years._ I can't bring myself to repeat everything, but she was called names and suffered ridiculous accusations, she was laughed at, tripped, sometimes had food thrown on her, always had kids whispering and looking at her and one chilling time those.. nasty, evil monsters even took off her shirt! All because she's just much smarter than them and because she was a bit of a late bloomer. Our little baby was being tortured for years and we didn't have a clue! The only thing we knew of was this one thing in fifth grade. Stupid me priding myself on being able to easily pick up on my kids being troubled, yet I missed ALL THAT.

I felt so much pain when hearing it all. It felt like I was being punched in the gut, like I was stomped on by someone wearing the most pointy heels ever, like someone clutched my heart and squashed it. I felt like screaming, but it was so overwhelming that I was unable to make a sound. It was like I was about to explode but couldn't, and was stuck in a second-from-explosion state. I could not believe those kids, those soulless creatures, could do this to my perfect little baby angel, the girl that's almost too good to be real with her heart of gold, her endless sweetness and her way of winning hearts in the blink of an eye.

But, about the exact same time, I had a rush of another kind of thoughts and feelings hitting me like a storm. I was one of those kids, those nasty, evil, horrible, disgusting monsters. I was one of those bullies, who would do these horrendous things. No, I was never the one to initiate, but I was a participant. For years I'd told myself I was just playing pranks and joking with those kids, the victims, but no, these were acts of bullying, too many, of good kids who did nothing to deserve it, like my Cub. So at the same time I was feeling like I was being beaten up ruthlessly, I wanted to be the one doing the beating myself.

All these overwhelming feelings, coming from all directions, left me paralyzed. All I could do was wrap my baby tightly in my arms, desperately wishing I could shield her from anything bad out there, that she should never experience. I felt incapacitated, which made me scream at myself internally, exasperated. Not only did I fail to protect my baby, but I also failed to support her and comfort her when she was pouring her heart out speaking about it. Leonard can keep saying it's nonsense all he wants, but I know I will never be a good enough mom for her, for all our overly wonderful children. Good thing Riley does have the father she deserves. He stepped up, he reacted, he was there for her and responded in the best way. I really don't deserve them.

All these thoughts and feelings did not leave me that evening, not for a second. I was able to tell Riley and Leonard I agreed she should graduate and go to UCLA. I even managed a quick smile, I wanted to show her I was on board with that decision. But this second-from-explosion state kept going on inside me.

When we got back Sophie and Maxi were curious about what had happened. They noticed I was going through something. Leonard looked at me, silently asking for permission to tell them. I nodded, knowing they wouldn't let go. Then he explained what had happened, sparing the details of Riley's bullying. He made all the kids promise they'll tell us if they're being threatened or hurt. All I could do was hug each of them tight and kiss their heads.

Later, in our room, Leonard and I were preparing to sleep. I had just changed my clothes and was sitting on the bed, still consumed with everything, when Leonard came to sit next to me, putting his arm around me.

He sighed. "I know this sucks. I can't even put words to it, and you know I have lots of big ones," he chuckled.

I would have chuckled at that any other time, but at that moment I couldn't.

Leonard saw that I wasn't reacting, and started rubbing my back, giving me a sympathetic smile. "But now we know, and it will be over. We will make sure of that. And, while I sure would've preferred that she never went through that, she does seem okay. She's a strong girl, and she knows not to take it personally."

He looked at me again for a response, but I just kept staring ahead.

Leonard looked ahead as well, and sighed. "I guess she got that me. I take jabs all the time, I don't stand up for myself. I'm a bad example. I also go over the line doing things for others at my expense. So she learned to take the hits and put others before herself. And I was a victim of bullying myself, maybe there are other things I do I'm not even aware of, that have made my daughter a victim as well."

In retrospect, he was doing that right there – he was taking all the blame on himself, sparing me completely. I may stand up for myself more than Leonard does, okay much more than he does, but it's not just him. I also have those times when I take some blows that are too much, or go an extra two miles for others, at my own expense. Hell, I'd let Sheldon live with us for our first year of marriage! I know it sounds crazy, but.. he had been living with Leonard for years and has it hard with change and was broken up with Amy at the time, he would've been across the hall but he said he wouldn't hear Leonard's breath pattern at sleep and.. No, it was crazy. Riley learned that from both of us. But we do want our kids to be kind and compassionate. And I love that they, and Leonard, are this way. But maybe we had gone too far with that. Both of us. But how do you balance that? I have no idea, and I wasn't up to figuring it out at the time.

Leaving this thought aside, I noticed Leonard had gone into our walk-in closet to pick up his outfit for the next day.

I turned to look at the wall, the one we share with Riley, in front of our bed. Immediately, everything my Cub's been through flashed through my mind, making me shudder.

I then felt Leonard's eyes on me, after he had apparently come back and placed his outfit on the chair.

Still looking at the wall, I said "Leonard…"

Leonard understood what I was thinking, without me having to say it, even though it was certainly not a regular thing. In fact, I haven't done that since Riley was five and was afraid of free radicals. "That's okay," he said. He turned my head to him gently, and I could see his supportive smile. He started kissing me, and I returned it. This turned into one of those deep, slow kisses, the ones packed with emotion. "Goodnight," he said after it ended, again with his smile.

"Goodnight," I smiled back.

I took my pillow and slowly and carefully went into Riley's room. I knew she was asleep, but I could tell it wasn't deep sleep. I smiled, seeing her looking peaceful. Slowly and carefully again, I climbed into her bed, behind her, and wrapped my arms around her.

"Mommy?" she asked, sleepily. I knew she wasn't asking if it was me (she'd know), but why I was there.

I kissed her head. Not knowing where to start, it took me a moment before saying, "Cub, I'm…"

Riley turned around to face me. Though it was dark, only small lights from the electronic devices in the room lighting it slightly, I could see her face clearly, mostly those big beautiful eyes. "I know," she said, with a gentle smile.

Inevitably, a matching small smile slowly appeared on my face as well.

No words had been said for a few minutes. There weren't any needed. We just looked at each other in the eyes, breathing slowly, at the exact same pace. Her being so close to me, her face a few inches away, took me all the way back to when she was a tiny little baby and I would calm her down, and then her calming down would calm me down, and we would both be wrapped in this little bubble of calmness. These moments of deep, magical connection, just like this one.

I then gave her a long kiss on her forehead, and looked into her eyes again.

"Goodnight Mommy," she said after a moment, "I love you."

"I love you so much more than I can describe, Cub. Goodnight."

Tired from everything we've been through that day, we both fell asleep shortly after that.

Riley's bed was big enough for the both of us, and I was very comfortable snuggled up with her, but boy, did I have the strangest dream.

It started in my own high school's bathroom. I was washing my hands and then looked up at the mirror, but, I wasn't me. And I don't mean that I was me, just as a teen. I wasn't me at all, I wasn't Penny, I was Riley. But in that weird dream way, I wasn't startled by that, not even surprised. I was Riley and I was studying in my, Penny's, old high school, and I was feeling kind of giddy, sunny, happy to go study.

I went out to the hallway, on my way to class, when suddenly a group of girls stood in front of me, blocking my way. Looking around, I saw that they weren't just a group of random girls. They were eight cheerleaders, wearing the same uniform I had when I was in school. In fact, they were the same cheerleaders who I'd been to school with, who were my friends (well, some were more frenemies). Leading them, standing right in front of me, was no other than Valerie Mossbacher, my, Penny's, ultimate high school frenemy. Then there were Christy Vanderbel, Regina Libby, Janet Trevor, Eleanor Cher, Lana Thompson, Courtney Debbie, and then, standing somewhat behind was _her._

Do I call her 'her'? How does this work? 'Cause 'her' was.. me. But not really me, she was Penny, but teenage Penny, not me Penny, well yes me Penny but not of now, and I was Riley. Wait, I'm making a mess. _She_ was teenage Penny, of the past, and I was Riley. I wasn't her and she wasn't me, and she wasn't my mom, as in Riley's mom. We weren't related, she was this other girl from school, this cheerleader. Hey, I said 'strangest dream', didn't I?

So there were these eight cheerleaders and they were blocking my way. Valerie was leading with Lana, Janet and Regina being like her sidekicks, and Eleanor, Christy, Courtney and, well, Penny, a bit behind but playing along. They had those smiles that made me nervous, I felt a knot in my stomach, something bad was going to happen.

It only took a second for me to see that I was right. They were mocking me for getting good grades, saying some of the things Riley said her bullies said to her, while getting scarily close to me.

Then, at a moment of laughter, I asked, in a little, scared voice, "Can I go now?"

"Why yes, you can," Valerie said.

I looked at her, suspicious, and then tried to keep walking, but they kept blocking me.

"Oh you're not going to class, Silly," she said, a sentence that rang familiar to me, "A girl with grades like yours should be going some place special," she said, which sounded familiar again. "Relax," she said, grinning, seeing I was now terrified, "we're just having fun."

Then it hit me. Kathy Geiger. That was exactly what Valerie said that day after school before we blindfolded poor Kathy, tied her up and left her in a cornfield overnight, with an ear of corn in her mouth. All because she got good grades.

And that's what they did to me, Riley-me. Eight against one, I had no way of fighting them. Regina, Janet and Lana held me in place and tied my hands, while Valerie stepped forward with the blindfold.

I just looked at her, Penny, standing back there, watching, laughing. I looked at her wondering why, before everything turned black.

"Come on, sleepy-heads," I suddenly heard Leonard's voice, a bit muffled. "Morning's here, whether you like it or not."

My eyes were closed, but there was no blindfold on them, and I noticed there was some light out there. I was no longer in my old high school, and I was Penny again, of now, Penny Hofstadter, at home in Pasadena, with my baby girl in bed, my husband sitting on the edge of the bed next to her.

Riley and I both groaned the same way, and snuggled more into each other.

Leonard chuckled, "Come on, Cub, you have to get ready for school."

Riley snuggled into me, burying her head in my shoulder, "I'm with Mommy," she mumbled.

I tightened my hold of her, grinning widely, savoring it. I could have stayed like that the entire day.

"Yes, I can see that, it looks nice and cozy, but if you don't get up now you will be late," he answered. I kept my eyes closed but could hear the amusement in his voice.

But Riley wouldn't budge, "I'm taking a childternity leave," she mumbled back.

Leonard and I chuckled. Then I felt his hand on my shoulder. I opened my eyes just a bit, and saw him give me a look.

I rolled my eyes and sighed, "Fine…" I kissed Riley's head and said, softly, "Sorry Cub, as much as I'm loving this, you're still in school, until you graduate. And you know, if you don't get up the next minute, you're gonna miss Morning Talk, 'cause Daddy has to wake Sophie and Maxi, too," I said, knowing that last part would do the trick. Leonard does this thing with the kids, 'Morning Talk', Riley would never miss that. He talks with each of them for a few minutes every morning when he wakes them up, to help them get up. It started when we had a hard time waking Riley, she's as much a morning person as I am (which is 0), but he does that with all of them to make it fair.

Just as I expected, after a moment Riley turned around to face her dad.

"Hey there," he said, with a chuckle.

"Hey…" she said, sleepily.

"It's one of your last days in high school, the countdown begins, how are you feeling?" he asked.

They talked about that for a bit, with Riley saying she felt a little sad thinking about telling her friends she'd be leaving school soon, but she made it clear she was happy with that choice. Leonard told her he would be going to see her principal to inform him she'd be graduating, and talk to him about the bullying. She was nervous, I didn't have to see her face to know that, but he promised her they would think of a way to do something about it that wouldn't make it worse. He then made her promise again that she would tell us if anything happened.

Then she got out of my arms and out of bed. Ugh, I didn't expect that to be so rough. It almost felt like a part of me was physically detached.

After Riley left her room, heading to the bathroom, Leonard turned to look at me. "So how are you doing?"

While sitting up, I took a moment to try to figure that out. "I don't know," I finally said. "I wanna say better, it does help that she seems to be okay… Maybe that's why I didn't figure that out before, she found a way to be okay with it," I realized.

Leonard nodded, "That makes sense."

"But… It's still a lot." At the moment I couldn't even start to explain.

Leonard nodded again. "Well, I can handle Principal Elliot myself, and there's nothing special going on at the fund today, nothing Holly, Cara and George can't handle on their own, so you can take the day off if you want. Stay at home, get rested, sort out your thoughts."

I was quiet for a moment, something coming up in my mind. "Yeah, I can take off," I said, nodding. "But I won't be staying at home. There's another place I need to be."

"Whatever will do you good. Is there some special sale somewhere?" Leonard asked.

"No," I shook my head, "I.." I turned to look at him, "Leonard, I have to go to Nebraska."

Leonard was understandably taken aback. I never left for Nebraska just like that. Actually, ever since I was pregnant with Riley I never spent a night in a different state than the kids. I could see he was trying to figure out how to approach this. "Umm… Nebraska?" he finally asked.

"Yes," I nodded. "I know this is out of nowhere, but there's something I have to do."

"Can you tell me what that is?" he asked, hesitantly, concerned.

I took his hand and gave him an apologetic smile, "No, not right now. But please don't worry, I'll be fine, and I'll be back in no time, no more than three days."

He nodded slowly, still confused and concerned, "Can I do something to help?"

I shook my head gently, still with that smile, "Just trust me."

So, after telling the kids and promising them I'm okay, will call, and will be back soon several times, and then promising Leonard that again some more, I booked a flight and was in my childhood home by that evening.

Like every time I come back, just breathing the Nebraskan air made me feel so good. Walking around the farm, seeing the animals, seeing my parents, it was all great. But I had something important to do and I'd decided it shouldn't wait for the next day. It was still a reasonable hour. I also just couldn't enter my old room. The moment I opened the door I saw _her,_ teenage Penny, from the dream, just standing there laughing like an idiot.

So about an hour and a half after getting to my parents', I was already in front of that house in Omaha, one that looked like every other middle class family home. Not too big, not too small, not fancy, not shaggy, just, normal. I checked the address again. This was it, according to the local database, by that I mean my mom and her friends, they know _everything._ They also knew she was an accountant, at a small Omaha company, that she married her college boyfriend after getting knocked up in their last year of college (that was unexpected!), he is a car salesman, and they have two kids, one in college.

Taking a deep, long breath, to gather the courage, I knocked on the door.

Before I could even take another breath, to prepare, she was standing right in front of me. Kathy Geiger.

She had changed, obviously, it'd been almost 22 years since I had last seen her. But I recognized her immediately, and, given her expression, so did she.

"Kathy, hi, how are you?" I asked, nervously, fiddling with my fingers. "Remember me?" I asked awkwardly, smiling, even though I knew she did, "It's Penny… From high school…" for some reason I did some sort of a jazz hands move there.

Kathy remained silent for another moment, then said, "Bye," and started closing the door.

"No no, wait, please," I said, holding the door.

She glared at me, so I removed my hand.

"Kathy, I know I should have done that way _way_ back but.. I just felt I had to… You know, apologize… For all that…" it wasn't helping that she just glared at me. I sighed, "Look, Kathy, I was a horrible horrible person in high school, I hurt you so bad and you did nothing to deserve it. I hate myself for it, I was a stupid, dumb b***h, I hurt others for no reason, I was disgusting."

"So?"

"So… I'm… sorry."

Suddenly Kathy burst out laughing.

"Wha…?" I was puzzled.

"Really? _Really?!_ You just pop up at my door some random day, decades later, say 'Sorry' and expect everything to be A-okay?!"

"No, no I don't-"

"Listen, Penny," she said my name in a tone both venomous and belittling at the same time, "Maybe that works in whatever little diner or, I don't know, hotel or country-club you work at in LA, if you're still there, with your ex-football-player-turned-failed-bar-owner of a husband, your gal-pals at the beauty salon, and whatever number of kids you have, probably snooty bullies just like you, but here, in real life, it doesn't work that way," she shook her head, giving me the kind of grin that seemed to be a step away from punching me in the face.

"Okay, making some assumptions there, but-"

"Sorry doesn't take away hours of helplessly crying, months of agony, years of despair, of thinking I was an ugly, unworthy, unlovable excuse of a person, all the way through college,"

"I don't think we said that…" I sheepishly said, wondering how it came to that.

Kathy chuckled, "No, no you didn't, you just had a little fun with me, right? Just some little pranks."

I cringed, ashamed of myself, "That was just a stupid excuse I made for myself, I realize now how truly awful that was, especially that time at the cornfield."

"Do yourself a favor Penny, don't waste your time here. I've got a husband, kids, a job, everything one should have. If this was a dare then you lost, sorry."

"Kathy, please, there's no dare, just me wanting to apologize. I know there's no changing the past, but is there anything I could do that would make it better for you?" I pleaded.

"Anything?"

"Anything."

…And that's how I ended up tied up and blindfolded in the middle of a cornfield, that cornfield, surrounded by the dark of night, with no way to reach for help. Kathy didn't spare me even the ear of corn, but I spit that out the moment she left.

It didn't take long for my entire body to hurt, and it didn't take long for me to remember the next day was supposed to be especially hot, not California hot, but nothing good for a 49-year-old woman tied up to some metal stakes in a warm coat.

Yes, I was miserable. Every muscle of my body was sore, every sound I heard sent chills through my body, every breeze reminded me I was miles away from my warm place in bed, next to my husband and near my children. Given how much I cried, I also thought dehydration was a sure thing by the next day. But 'I deserve this', I kept telling myself. I did that to Kathy, and she was just a kid. The same age as my Cub, for God's sake!

All through the night I kept seeing that teenage Penny, the same way as in my dream. In my mind I kept yelling at her, all kinds of insults, but that didn't matter. She just stayed there, laughing with her cheerleader friends. 'Of course you're laughing,' I 'said' at one moment, 'You're just a stupid cheerleader, what do you know? All you know is how to flirt with stupid jocks.'

That's when it suddenly hit me.

"Forget that, Penny, studying is not for you. Such a pretty girl is to dazzle her way through life," that's what my Nana told me when I was, I don't know, five? Six? "Penny, honey, homework's not for people like us, just do some of it and say you didn't get the rest, you'd be better off spending your time watching your sister do her makeup for prom," I remember my mom saying when I was in first or second grade. And when I started getting poor grades, third grade, I think, and was crying about it, she said "That's nothing to cry over, baby-girl, school's not for you, you should leave that for the smart kids. You know, if they had a popularity test you'd get an A+! That's all that should matter to you." My sister Lisa was, obviously, more blatant, she straight-out laughed at me that time, I think in middle school, when I tried to understand Math.

This is how it's always been, school's not for you, go chase guys, go buy clothes, be popular, cheerleader, prom queen. This is what I should've been, to my family, this is what I was to everyone else, and this is what I found myself being. But was that really all I was back then? I mean, come to think of it, I didn't really get a chance. I didn't get a chance to be something else. I was told that was what I was since I was in kindergarten. I was put into that.. box, that others had built for me. Did I really fully fit in it? Or did that box leave out parts of me?

That thought took me back to that morning, to that feeling when Riley got out of bed. Maybe it doesn't make sense, maybe the hours of being tied up had messed with my head, but, I don't know, I started thinking that maybe she's part of me in more ways than being my child. Maybe there was a part of me that was Riley. I mean, a part that, while certainly not as brilliant as her, did want to learn.

When I was that age, I felt all I could do was cheer, gossip, flirt. A lot of it was fun, I'm not saying it wasn't, but I felt I didn't have a choice. Also, by high school I already felt dumb as a rock the second I opened a workbook, or tried to listen to a teacher for more than 10 minutes. I didn't know what was going on, I only got some parts here and there, enough not to fail. But, it's not that I didn't want to learn. I can even remember all those times I did want to get it, all those times I wished I was one of those smart kids, that could understand what was going on in class, that knew so much and could answer all the questions.

Those kids, the smart kids, like Kathy Geiger, they could have that part that I wasn't allowed. They got to live something I couldn't, something I was denied. And I was jealous. That's what it was. I remember having negative feelings toward them, but I didn't know what it was and thought that was just the way it was with 'nerds'. That's why I felt those 'pranks' and 'nicknames' were just obvious consequences of their behavior, what nerds should get. I was mad because I was being restricted, 'boxed', but, I didn't understand what was really wrong, so I took it out on the wrong target.

That teenage Penny now started to look different to me. I could see her looking at the whiteboard, puzzled. I could see her looking at the smart kids, jealous. I could see through her eyes, she was me. And she, I, was not just an inexplicably horrible person. I was confused, lost, restricted, mad, frustrated, without even knowing it.

I was busy with my thoughts, when suddenly I noticed the ropes tying my hands seemed to have loosened a little. I realized this probably was because, wanting to change position in hopes of feeling a little less sore, I was leaning forward for quite a long time. Then I started thinking, those ropes may not be the strongest. If so, I realized, I had a chance, however slight, of cutting them myself.

A lecture suddenly came to mind. We once had this cool physicist visiting from Brazil at the fund. He was a regular traveler who'd been camping in dozens of places around the world. He gave a cool lecture that combined those two things he loved – Physics and camping. In one part of it, he talked about ropes and their characteristics, and he showed us a trick, how to cut a rope with itself. That required standing on the rope, which I couldn't do, but there was this thing about tension and friction.

I knew I couldn't both keep the rope tight and cut it with another part of it. To create tension you need two forces, or something like that, and I needed one hand to do the cutting, so I needed another force. Then I remembered seeing, before Kathy blindfolded me, a horizontal metal rod between the upright one I was tied to and another one next to it. I knew it should be beneath me, so I started carefully kneeling down and feeling behind me. It was tough, because there wasn't that much space between my arms, but I managed to move them beneath it. I pulled up, and then did my best to reach with my right hand to the rope that should be tied to my left hand, tightened by the pulling. I almost didn't believe it when in less than a minute the rope was cut and my arms were free. Freeing myself completely after that was not much of a problem.

And so, in the middle of the night, I finally got back to the farm, exhausted.

"Penny?" I heard my mom's voice the moment I opened the door. She jumped from the couch she, I suppose, fell asleep on. I didn't think she could even move that fast anymore.

"Mom, what are you doing here?" I asked, trying to mask my exhaustion.

"Penny what happened?! Where were you?!" she asked, extremely worried. "I called you so many times, your phone was off, and none of the neighbors had seen you." She got up and looked at me closely. The room was dark, only lit by a small lamp, but she noticed the marks on my wrists, "Honey, what happened?!" she asked, her eyes wide, looking straight into mine.

I smiled. My mom loved me dearly, I never had doubts. She was very frightened at seeing her daughter hurt, even if said daughter was 49, just like I was when I heard of my baby being hurt. As much as I wanted, I couldn't find it in me to be mad at her for 'boxing' me as a kid. That was what she thought was right, what she knew. Maybe she should've paid more attention to my own wishes. Probably. But she had good intentions, as did my Nana, and I guess Lisa, but who knows what goes on in Lisa's head, I don't even know which country she's in right now. I wanna say with the paper clip guy…?

"Penny?"

I hugged her. "I'm okay Mom, really, I'm sorry I had you worried," I said, " I love you."

Wanting to get back to my family, I booked a flight right after that and then got a few hours of sleep. Luckily it was a Saturday, so I knew I'd have time to catch up.

Leonard insisted on picking me up at the airport. He kept asking questions on the way, but I wasn't up to it yet. I just had him hold and kiss me, exactly what I needed. That, and the kids hugging me when we got back home.

After telling them all about Nana and Papa and the animals, and giving the kids the chocolates their Nana sent them, everybody scattered, but Riley.

She stayed right next to me, quiet for a moment. I could feel there was something she wanted to say to me. Then, she looked up at me and asked, a sad look on her face, "Mommy, did you go away because of me? Because of the bullying stories? It was too much, I'm so sorry."

I looked into her worried and guilty eyes. This wasn't right. I took a breath, "Cub, I know I tend to take it hard when something happens to you. You're my baby, and it hurts me when you're hurt."

Riley looked down.

"But," I said, in a serious, assertive tone I rarely use with her, making her look back up, "you don't get to keep that from me. I will not have that. I'm the parent, you're the child. It is my job, no, my _role_ to protect you, not the other way around." I hate to be sharp with her, but I had to. Of course, with those irresistible puppy eyes staring at me, I couldn't help but hug her tight and shower her with kisses a few seconds after that.

It was some hours later, in our bedroom, when Leonard tried to ask me again what had happened. This time I was ready, and told him everything that happened, from my feelings at Sharon's to my breaking free at the cornfield.

Leonard held my hands and remained quiet all throughout, letting me finish, but his face gave away his feelings. He was appalled by Kathy's doing and shuddered at my description of being all sore. When he saw that I had finished, he finally spoke, "Penny, what that woman did to you is insane! For all we know you could've been there for days! And even if you weren't, you could've suffered dehydration, muscle damage, skin damage! You could probably report her for that."

"That is what we did to her, Leonard, and she was a kid."

"So were you. Not that it was okay then, but you're both grown women now. Kathy may have been hurt, but that is no way to resolve it."

I gave his hands a squeeze, to calm him down, "Look, I agree it wasn't great of her. But if that helped her in some way, then I achieved what I wanted. Although I doubt it resolved anything. I wish I could make things better, but I did what I could," I sighed, "I can't force her to resolve her issues with me, or any other stuff she's carrying from high school. But I did resolve my issues with someone else…"

"Really? With whom?" Leonard asked.

"Penny," I said, with a small smile.

"Penny…?" he asked, waiting for me to fill in the details about who he thought was another Penny.

"Penny the teenager, the bully. The one I hated so much but had no way to get rid of, because she'll always be part of me, there's nothing I can do against that."

"Honey, it was certainly not okay, but you were a kid, and it wasn't just you…"

"No. What I did, to Kathy and to other kids, was horrible. It should not be brushed away, and I will always be mad at myself for it. But I gained this new understanding of that Penny, and why she did that. She was jealous, you know? Not just a little, like this full-blown, deep, strong jealousy."

Leonard raised an eyebrow. "Jealous of the nerds, huh? Does that mean I should offer to buy Raj's Comic-Con ticket for you? You know, I don't want you to be jealous when I send you the pictures of me and Howard trying to push through 400-pound Ewoks to get an autograph of some actor we don't know."

I smiled, holding a chuckle, "Leonard I gained insight, not lost my mind."

Leonard chuckled, "Hey," he then said seriously, "I don't like what that woman did to you, but I'm glad you feel it helped."

I nodded, "I know it's twisted, but it did. I really didn't know that jealousy thing until now. And now that I do, I think I may be finally ready to start accepting past Penny, and maybe leave her alone, in the past, where she belongs. "


	24. It

_**A/N: Well, here we are. After the series finale. Feels kind of weird, isn't it?**_

 _ **I'm glad we have the gang sticking together, as they are in this story. And that Leonard and Penny will have at least one (smart and beautiful) baby 3 I wanted to hear something about Penny's thoughts and feelings about that, but if you have read at least a tiny bit of this story you know I'm all about exploring thoughts and feelings, maybe to a fault. I guess Raj's fate will remain more in the hands of fanfic writers. Not many Raj fics out there though, maybe there'll be some new ones now?**_

 _ **But as I said, The Corollary Theory is still here. I have much more planned, I don't know if I'll get to most of it, but for now I'm still writing, and will be so happy for whoever keeps reading this. I hope oter fanfic writers will continue writing as well, so we will still have these wonderful characters in new adventures.**_

 _ **Thanks to all who read, followed, favorited and reviwed up to this point and to all who will stick with me. I love reading your reviews and those who had reviewed before know that I reply (unless you don't want me to ;) ). Special thanks to my dear beta reader joyteach, and special thanks to Tensor who took a look at this chapter to see that I didn't write something improbable in regards to Comic-Con.**_

 _ **Time jump for this chapter: three months.**_

 _ **The Big Bang Theory is over, but it still belongs to Lorre and Prady. Well, what's a girl to do? I do own my OCs and to some extent these Halley and Michael. If anybody wants to borrow them, by the way, I'm open to that, PM me.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 24: It**

 _July, 2035._

 _[Michael.]_

"Well, I really have to go now, we'll be heading out any minute now," I told Jess. I didn't want to be rude but we'd been video-talking for over half an hour now and I was really about to leave. Also, she wasn't much help with my costume, she just said I looked cute.

"Aww you sure?" she asked.

"Yeah, sorry. I'll text you if I have time."

"Sure you can't call?"

"There's just a lot going on, I won't have the time. And remember, we'll be five people in that room, my dad included, you really want to talk when he's around?" No, she doesn't.

Jess sighed, "No… Okay, I guess I'll see you in a few days," she smiled, a bit sad.

"Yeah…" I smiled back. An announcer's voice sounded in my mind, 'Ladies and gentlemen we're about to start another match of who-hangs-up-first. Competitors, please warm-up your facial muscles, we don't won't any injuries from prolonged fake-smiles. Remember, no acknowledging what this is. Ready? Set, go!'

"Yeah…" she said.

"So…" I said.

"You're going."

"Yeah," I smiled.

"Jessie, breakfast's on the table," I heard her mom call her.

Thank God. This felt like it was about to go on forever. But what could I do? You don't want to hang up on your girlfriend, especially when you're going away for the weekend.

I'm also more cautious with Jess this time. See, a little over two years ago, she broke up with me. She said she felt she wasn't the one who had my heart. I couldn't say anything to that because.. I knew she was right. My heart was with Riley, and I guess it kinda always has been. It still is. So I let Jess go.

After that I dated this girl, Eva-Linn, a few times but it didn't work out. Then there was over a year where I sometimes considered asking this or that girl out but I didn't feel like it. My dad kept asking and trying to push me to date but I just knew I would never feel for these girls what I feel for Riley.

Then, like a year and a half after we broke up, Jess and I were made lab partners in Chemistry. It was awkward at first, but then we started having a good time. Then this one day we were in her house, writing a report, and Jess brought up the fact that I was still single. I think it was her way to ask what about Riley, but I didn't bring that up. I didn't know whether Jess knew I had feelings for Riley or just knew I had feelings for _someone._ I wouldn't give her that information. I can't let Riley find out about this,, _ever._ Sure, if someone told her I could deny it, but even that could make everything awkward and break our friendship.

You know, if this was a movie, I would probably run to her as soon as Jess broke up with me and confess my feelings. But this is life, and I'm not a daring movie hero. Of course movie heroes dare, it always works out for them. In real life, doing this could mean losing Riley forever. I would _never_ , _ever_ risk that. That's like, one of the worst things that could happen in my life. Like, outside of natural disasters and accidents and stuff, you know what I mean. Besides, I thought I didn't really know what being with Riley would be like, I thought I may have built it up in my head and it could end up being a total flop.

So, I just told Jess I was single. Then she said "Maybe I was wrong about you." I didn't say a thing. The next thing I knew, we were kissing and back together. So this 'second round' has been on for almost 10 months. And you know, Jess is nice and kind and considerate, and she's _damn hot._ She's really an awesome girlfriend, anybody would like to have her. So this time I was trying better to do what she wanted, to play along, I didn't want to mess it up.

That's why I also played along when she said she'd miss me, when we ended our call this morning. I didn't really feel that way, but I also thought it could be because I was too excited about what was to come.

The thing is, we were about to head out to Comic-Con. THE Comic-Con. San Diego. Me, Riley, our dads and Sophie. Usually Uncle Sheldon, Stephen and Uncle Raj would go too, but they had other stuff. Uncle Sheldon had a big lecture with Aunt Amy in Oxford, and they took Stephen and Lizzie with them. You should've seen Uncle Sheldon when he realized the dates coincided, he looked like a mix of a defective cyborg and plastic surgery gone wrong. Stephen was also ticking, but not as much. He went completely quiet, and after a long time said he'd been debating with himself and had decided he should go with his family, in case their plane crashed. Then Sheldon started arguing with him saying he didn't have a choice anyway. The citing laws kind of argument. At least that ended the ticking, but Sheldon still made Uncle Leonard promise he'd video-call him so he could be there virtually.

Uncle Raj sold his ticket after he found out Sandra Bullock would be shooting two scenes of her new movie in Pasadena on those days. He auditioned to be an extra, but they said he was too 'SpongeBob-meets-Cookie Monster'. So he planned to camp out at the site, hoping to be mistaken for the water boy. He even made himself a full water-boy costume. Max wanted to go instead but Aunt Penny stuck to her 'No cons before age 10' rule.

So this time we'd only be five people in the room, not eight. That was nice. But what made this year's con more exciting was that this was the first year Riley and I would get to hang out on our own. Our dads had finally agreed to it. So for the first time we'll get to check out whatever we want, without having to wait for them. They take breaks about every 20 minutes, to sit down and rub their backs or their feet. And it's my dad, if he wants to rub his feet he _takes off his shoes,_ I'm not kidding, he stinks up the place worse than a Chewbacca taking their costume's head off.

I was also looking forward to the alone time with Riley. It's always fun, and we sure still spend time together, but it happens much less since I got back with Jess. She wants me to be with her all the time at school, and I know that's what you're supposed to do with your girlfriend.

But it's more than that. Riley finished school this year. She will be going to UCLA in a couple of months, to a special program they have with Harvard and Yale. So I won't even get to see her in school anymore. And who knows how much I'll get to see her after school hours? She'll be busy with her studies, and with all the other geniuses she's gonna meet there. She'll probably think I'm as dumb as a shoe anyway, after spending all that time with people like her.

I checked myself one last time in the mirror, comparing again with the pictures. I was going as Ron Stoppable. Riley would be Kim Possible. It took time to decide how to do my hair (well, wig) and freckles, like the original, the cartoon? Like a live-action version? And which one? I ended up going for a mix of the cartoon and last year's movie's Ron. We did come up with the idea of going as them last year, but we decided to wait because everybody would go as them right after the movie release.

"MIKEY! THE HOFSTADTERS ARE HERE! ARE YOU DONE PRIMPING? YOU'VE DONE ENOUGH PRIMPING, STOP PRIMPING AND COME DOWN!" My mom shouted.

I sighed. See what I have to deal with? And if I dare to say she's embarrassing she gets mad. And posts selfies with filters and gif-stickers. 'cause that's cool, apparently.

I walked down the stairs, not paying much attention, until I saw _her_ and missed a step, quickly grabbing the banister to stop myself from falling. Her red-haired wig was definitely not as beautiful as her own chocolate-like hair, but that tight-fitting shirt, that made my heart flutter. I'd never seen her wear something that tight. And the shirt's black brought her eyes out even more. Those unbelievably beautiful eyes, that were now looking right at me. Lucky she didn't go for the cartoon, crop-top version!

"You okay there?" Riley asked.

I then noticed all eyes were on me. I looked at her and gulped. "Y- Y- Yes," I said, and finished going down.

Riley looked at me expectantly, smiling, "Hi," she said, after a few seconds.

"Wha- Oh! Uh, hi," I said, and then we did our special handshake - one-hand fist bump, other-hand fist bump, two-hand high five. It used to actually have a handshake and some other stuff but that was too long. Although this one took long enough because I was slow as hell. Ugh, what a dork.

Things weren't much better on the way. I was still not over it, and Riley ended up asking if I was going down with something.

"What? No, why?" I answered, quickly.

"Well, you're kinda jumpy, and pinkish."

"Jumpy? Like how?" I asked.

"Like right now," she chuckled.

"Oh," I chuckled, "I guess I'm just excited, for the con."

She seemed suspicious, but left it. Thankfully, we went on to talk about our plans for the con. That helped put me back on track.

Uncle Sheldon had insisted on being video-present from the moment we got on the line, as Uncle Sheldons do. Of course, he made use of that time to complain about the size of the gap between the lines on my dad's Spiderman suit, and the 'insulting orangeness' of Uncle Leonard's Human Torch costume. As Uncle Sheldons do.

"Leonard, you had a closer shade to that of the Human Torch 21 years and three months ago, when you went with Penny to that horrendous masochistic paradise, and no less than the vicious one that abuses one of the most beautiful human creations to trick the innocent into coming in."

Leonard paused for a bit, thinking, and then asked, "You mean Six Flags?"

"Yes, of course I mean Six Flags!" Sheldon spat, irritated as usual by the time it took Leonard to figure out what he meant.

Leonard sighed.

"Sheldon, you do know we can hang up on you anytime, right?" my dad chimed in.

"No you can't," Sheldon answered, matter-of-factly, "I've installed a software in your phones that allows me to take control of them."

Dad smiled mischievously, "Yes you did. But I hacked it and made some changes."

Sheldon was taken aback, "What changes?"

"Why don't you ask your phone camera?" Dad answered, while doing something on his phone. Then, Uncle Sheldon's camera snapped a picture of him, wide-eyed, imposing a puppy filter. We all burst-out laughing, all but Uncle Sheldon.

"Howard this is unacceptable!" Sheldon protested, but the puppy filter was still on in the video, so it was _hilarious._

"What do you say, Captain? What should we do next?" Dad asked Sophie, who was dressed as Captain Marvel.

"Voice filters!" Sophie said.

That gave us several good minutes of laughter, as Uncle Sheldon kept ranting in baby, monster and woman voices. It reached an end when Sheldon, in a woman's voice, asked, "Are you not finished yet?" and Dad said "That's what she said". Uncle Leonard elbowed him immediately. I don't think Sophie and Riley got it anyway.

When we finally got to our hotel, we hurried to leave our luggage in our room. We didn't want to lose precious Con time. I did take a glance at our bed, cringing at the thought of having to share it with my dad and Uncle Leonard. At least it was one less person than last time, and no chance of stepping on Uncle Raj on the way to the bathroom this year.

I then heard Riley snicker. When I turned to her, she started fully chuckling. "Just remember, Gulliver, if you feel something like a bug over you, don't throw it off, it might be your dad."

I had to chuckle a little, but then scoffed, "Meanwhile you two bugs share an entire bed."

Riley shrugged, "Hey, it's not my fault. I mean, it would be more logical, based on surface area, to divide differently, like, you and I sharing a bed," I would've probably gotten.. 'pinkish' at that thought but she suddenly started talking so fast, I didn't have time to think it, "um with Sophie! With Sophie, also, because, surface area. But we _obviously_ can't do that, you don't do that with your friends, that's just thinking, spatially, about shapes, not actual people. But you can't do that, you can do that with your girlfriend that's with your girlfriend, how is she? How are you? How are you guys together? I like you guys together!" she said, finishing with a weird pat on my back.

Just then, our dads came back with the sandwiches they went to get for us. We waited another two minutes for Sophie to clean up the imaginary stain on her costume, and headed to the Con.

We looked around quickly, before splitting up. Splitting up just seemed better and better. There was _a ton_ to do and Uncle Sheldon was as stubborn as usual, claiming his visit plan was optimal. That meant my dad would be making them do the opposite, which would be funny, but still not allow us to just do what we wanted. No, this was Comic-Con and I was with Riley, I was going to do what _I_ wanted! Unless she didn't want it.

We stood near the entrance, about to split up. Then Uncle Leonard started going over his agreement with Riley, "You remember, pay attention to your phone, do not leave the building, if you can't get us, wait right in this spot, don't take anything from anyone who's not an official worker, do not lose sight of each other, and do not go with anyone you don't know."

"Don't worry Uncle Leonard, I'll watch over her, I've worked on all my sidekick moves!" I said, and then jokingly did some big kick-jumps with fight-voices.

Riley laughed, and the others chuckled.

"Okay, we should get going," Leonard said, "Howard…?"

"What?" Dad asked, "Oh," he turned to me, "Umm remember, son, sometimes a Harley's a Quinn in your selfie, and a Davidson in his profile."

That was a good point to split up.

Riley and I started walking the floor, starting at a Superman exhibition, where they had tons of rare original comic books, original sketches and the very first action figures. It was awesome. Except when that dude gave Riley a look, you know, of a certain kind. I think those other two we passed by before were also looking at her but I wasn't sure.

Then we kept walking, close to the autograph area, checking people's costumes on the way and some really good posters someone drew of anime characters. This time I definitely caught three guys looking at Riley, and then whispering among themselves. Urrgh I didn't like it a single bit, and when I glanced at her I got the feeling she was uncomfortable. She sure was when that big guy who went as Hulk checked her out from head to toe and winked at her.

But then suddenly there was a lot of commotion and some people started screaming. That was the obvious sign, the cast of "Snoopy: Tales of a Haunted Doghouse" was coming.

We hurried to the line. There were so many people and they were aggressive, so I was behind Riley with my arms in front of me, to her sides, to fend others off her. When we made it to the line I could finally let go.

"What was that?" she turned to me and asked.

"What?"

"The flailing arms," she chuckled.

"They weren't flailing!" I said, "I just didn't want you to be run over," I shrugged.

"Hmm. Fair enough, but you're kind of underestimating me," she said.

"How?"

"If someone ran me over, I'd be clinging to that person's feet for my life. We'd be first in line," she smiled smugly.

"I guess, if you held on as fiercely as you did with that balance beam," I chuckled. That was three years ago, but I'm still grateful I was sent to the gym at that exact moment.

Riley narrowed her eyes, "Hey, I do yoga, I could totally do that. I just didn't get the idea of making me walk on that thing when there's plenty of balance exercises that are, you know, less likely to end in me wearing a full body cast."

I chuckled.

Riley elbowed me, but smiled, rolling her eyes. "Shut up."

We were lucky we got there when we did, the line had gotten huge. We waited some time but not that much, and got autographs from everybody, and they were super nice. I was totally cool with them, king of nonchalance, I don't know what Riley was smirking about.

So after that we were starting to go toward the card game tables, they have an area where there's card game tournaments, and you get to play with rare cards. But this guy, about our age, dressed as Batman, stood in our way. At first we tried to walk around, it was crowded so we thought he just didn't notice, but he moved wherever Riley, who was in front of me, moved.

The guy smiled in a leering kind of way, and said to her, "What's the rush there, Toots? The fun is right here."

"Umm no, it's there," she said and nodded toward the tables, trying to walk around again.

He blocked her again, "Oh come on, cards are for dorks, this is a convention, let's find a corner and convene, I'll buy ya' a smoothie," he winked.

He was kinda lanky, obviously with no muscles other than the fake costume ones, but it was uncomfortable. "Dude, she said no," I said.

"Dude, you wouldn't know flirting if it hit you in the eye," he smirked.

"Then I guess someone needs an eye check…" Riley said to me, nodding toward him.

I chuckled.

"Just let go, Freckles, it's not your business" he said and reached for Riley's hand, but she immediately slapped it.

"You let go!" she said. "You know what," she looked at me and then back at him, "it _is_ his business, because," she took my hand, intertwining her fingers with mine, "he's my boyfriend!"

There was that heart fluttering again. I looked at Riley, who was looking at me again, with a pleading look I had no way to resist. As if I could resist anyway…

"Yeah she's mine, take off!" I said.

Then she gave me a kiss on the cheek. It was so quick I didn't see it coming, but I could feel it long after it was over. I must've been the most 'pinkish' I've ever been.

"Oh, sorry 'bout that," the guy said, suddenly so much less confident, it was like a deflated balloon. "I didn't know you were that phase Kim and Ron. Um, last year's movie was so much better than the other live-actions, right?" he said, rubbing his neck, "Um enjoy your con, bye." He turned and walked away quickly.

We waited a minute and then Riley released a breath and turned to me, apologetic, "Damn it, Michael, I'm so sorry, he just wouldn't let go and it was getting a little scary, thank you so much for doing that."

But I was having a tough time concentrating on what she was saying, or anything but the touch of her hand or the left-over feeling of her lips on my cheek.

"Michael…?" she asked.

"Uhh yes, no, I mean, n- no problem, you're welcome, I- I told your dad I'd be watching over you, didn't I?" I chuckled nervously.

She smiled, but then I saw her looking another way for a second, worriedly. I then noticed two guys walking by us, glancing at her for a bit. I don't think they were jerks like that other guy. Riley's just so beautiful, of course guys would look at her. But she's usually not that noticeable, at school she's a bit of an outcast, so she's not used to that many looks. And after that jerk, I could see why she'd be nervous.

"Seems like I might actually need that…" she said, and then she asked, very hesitant and nervous, "Umm, Michael… If we don't do anything too much, just like, minimal stuff like now, will you agree to keep pretending you're my boyfriend? You know, just to keep the creeps away, so they won't bothe-"

"Yes," I answered quickly.

Riley grinned, "Gre- Good, good, thank you. If you want, I can talk to Jess, I'll explain all and tell her we won't do anything much, nothing that upsets her."

"Oh, Jess! Yeah, um she'd be cool with that, I'll text her later."

"Okay, yeah, yeah, it's not like we're gonna kiss or something…" Riley said and started laughing.

I laughed too. But really, that image, that to Riley was probably just ridiculous, was something that had gone through my mind so many times, and it never made me laugh. More like want to punch myself to get it out.

The next two hours were, I can't think of any word to describe it other than 'heaven'. Really the constant hand holding alone, again with that thing Riley did interwining fingers, was enough to keep my head reeling for the day, but there was _more._

When we went to watch the card games there were a lot of people, so Riley was in front of me but kinda like pressed against me, and held both my hands. She said it would be weird to people if we were a couple and it was crowded and we didn't do that. "It would be the logical thing for a couple to do in this situation, so if we don't want people to be suspicious, we should do the most logical thing based on the assumption we want them to make," she said.

"Obviously!" I answered. It made sense, but to tell the truth, I didn't really mind if it did.

Then, I don't know how I dared do it, but I moved my arms, 'til they were around her. I did that very slowly, waiting for any sign of resistance, but there wasn't any. I looked at her and she was looking at the game. She seemed a bit red, I guess from the heat, it was getting warm with all the people around.

We played a round of "Caesars of Magia" against each other later, out of the tournament. She beat me, but it wasn't really fair, her friend Hiroshi has it and they play all the time. I forgot about it anyway when we got up and she gave me another kiss on the cheek. I wanted another round after that, but we had to go to the panel we signed for. But when we walked we held hands again, and she also put her other hand on my arm, so I was good.

The panel was another plus of not being with my dad. It was an "Ocean Girl" panel. You may not know it because it's not that popular, yet, but it's a TV show Riley and I love. My dad says it's for girls and always makes jokes at me for watching it. But I don't care. I love it, and with Riley I don't have to play along.

The panel was super awesome. But not just because of the panel itself. Some time around the middle of it, I caught Riley looking at me, and when I turned to her she said she thought some guys were looking at her. "I just thought maybe we could do something to show them- I mean make them think we're a couple. Like maybe, maybe I could put my head on your shoulder, that would probably work, but maybe I was just imagining, maybe there's no need, it's a false positive, false alarm."

She was talking so fast today, by the time I had pieced it together she was giving that up, but I managed to respond fast enough, "Maybe you're not, maybe we should do that, just in case."

And we did. For the rest of the panel.

After the panel we had 40 minutes left before we'd meet our dads and Sophie. I wished we had more so bad, but every minute was worth it. For the most of it, we were playing vintage video games, all the while being very close. Some of the guys around gave me jealous looks, and I couldn't help but smirk at them. That was fun. But the best was when Riley kissed my cheek, that happened about three more times.

With five minutes left, we went to get ice cream. Well, I got ice cream.

"How's your sweet seed liquid?" I asked Riley, smirking. Last year she became lactose intolerant. It's weird, but it turns out it tends to start later in life, Riley says age 15 is common for its onset. So now she had ice creams made of stuff like soy or almond milk, and I made sure to give her a hard time about it.

"Ooh, look at me, I can digest milk!" she mocked me with a low, stupid voice. Then she got back to speaking normally, "You know, tolerating lactose as an adult is the mutation here, so that means you're like a baby, a giant, Gulliver baby," she quipped.

"Good, babies have it best. They have people move them around everywhere, feed them, sing them to sleep, _and_ they have an on-spot private bathroom, 24/7."

Riley laughed, "You're so gross."

We both laughed, finishing our ice cream/vegetable potion.

"One minute," Riley sighed, looking at her phone. "We'd better get going."

I nodded, sad. "So this is over…"

"Yep. We're no longer girlfriend-boyfriend. I mean not that we were, I mean no longer pretend girlfriend-boyfriend, 'cause we're not girlfriend-boyfriend! " she said, and started laughing nervously. When that was over, she looked me in the eyes, with a deep, sincere look and smile, and said, "Thank you."

I looked at her and just smiled and nodded.

Even with just that look, and that smile, with no touching at all, I felt so much. I know it's kind of a girly thing to say, but it felt like butterflies. It was just this indescribable, wonderful feeling. We didn't really do much, just some touching, just some kisses on the cheek. But every little thing felt amazing, and I just couldn't get enough. It was It. With the capital I. That It people talk about, and write and sing about. I've been telling myself maybe it didn't exist, or maybe it wasn't really that big a deal. I told myself no matter who I'd get with, it would not be more than what I have with Jess. But what I have with Jess, I know now, that just not It.

I gotta break up with Jess. I realized that in that moment. I hope it's the right decision. It feels like the right thing to do. My dad would kill me. But it's not It. My friends would declare me the ultimate dumbass. But it wouldn't be right to keep this going. It's not fair to her, is it? Jess deserves someone who feels she's It for him.

And I should look for someone who I feel is It for me. And who feels I'm It for her. Then maybe the pain of never being with Riley, of her laughing about the idea of us being together, probably thinking it's nothing more than funny and weird, maybe it won't be so bad anymore.

For now I guess I'll have to hope there will be creeps at the next con we're at. Does that make me a jerk? I guess so. Ugh. I can't help it. It's just, when we were walking back, to real life, she said maybe I'll "save her" again next time.

"Maybe you'll be my hero, you'll be Boyfriendman," she said, with a beautiful smile, and my heart started pounding already.

And then she laughed.


	25. Help

_**A/N: IIIIt's chapter time! Duhn duhn duhn!**_

 _ **So technically this is the second chapter after the show was over but the previous one was just a few days later... It's been over two weeks now and it's a new months, so I'd like to thank anybody who's still here reading this :)**_

 _ **As usual I also want to thank everybody who read, follow(/ed), favorited and reviewed. I love your reviews. Special thanks to my wonderful beta who's still sticking with me, joyteach.**_

 _ **I'm a bit behind on my writing, some RL stuff is making it hard to write even when I do have the time. I usually have at least one chapter finished (pre-beta) before posting, but sadly I haven't finished the next one yet. Still, I'm about to finish it and I'm quite certain I will post it on time. Hopefully I won't have to take a three-week break later on.**_

 _ **This chapter takes place two months after the previous one. Since it is Stephen-focused, I would like to remind that Stephen has his own ASD and his own characteristics beyond that; and that generally people with ASD may differ greatly from one another. What's true for this fictional character may not be true for a certain person with ASD you may meet in real life.**_

 _ **The Big Bang Theory does not belong to me, it belongs to Lorre and Prady. If it did I would have done a spin-off with the grown-up versions of my OCs :P (which do belong to me).**_

* * *

 **Chapter 25: Help**

 _September, 2035._

 _[Stephen.]_

Yesterday, 17:47, was the time my emotional turmoil started. My mother came into my room, asking to 'talk', the non-specific term raising my suspicions. She engaged in the proverbial 'beating around the bush', before revealing her true goal – Making me participate in a social skills group for adolescents.

I felt an emotional upheaval, which I was not able to pause and define, as I have been taught, since a response was quick to come out. "No! Stop it! I'm not going!" I yelled.

"Stevie calm down, I won't force you," she said. She tried to reach for my hand, but I moved it away. "Stevie, I just thought it would be good for you, since you are now starting high school, and new challenges may come. You also don't have Riley there anymore to help you, and you refuse to let Cara help you in making friends," she reasoned. I should inform you that Riley had graduated from high school and started the Elite-Minds program of UCLA, Harvard and Yale; and that Cara is my assistant in school. Her job is to help me because of my ASD. I preferred my previous one, Zoe, because she could draw superheroes well, but Cara is doing a good job in helping me when I am overwhelmed and when I misunderstand my teachers. That is all I ask of her.

"I do not need that group, and I do not need help! I have my superior mind to help me in any worthy endeavor," I said.

"If I had a dollar for every time I'd heard that…" she said.

"Then you'd have earned several hundreds of dollars," I answered, "because you have heard that at least 397 times from Dad and another 13 from me."

"Yes," she smiled for a brief moment. "Stevie let's think about it, let's look at their site," she said and was reaching for her phone.

"No! I don't need it!" I yelled and ran out of my room.

My mom followed me as I climbed down the stairs and walked into the living room. "Stephen! Stephen!" she yelled.

After finishing my descent, I turned to her, my arms crossed.

"What has gotten into you lately?" she asked, "You were never like this."

My feelings changed into fright. "Like what? Am I speaking another language? Am I turning green and big and muscular? Am I moving in a way that might suggest foreign control of my body?" I asked.

"No, no, honey, I'm sorry," she said, "I wasn't clear. I meant you have always been willing to get help, but lately you keep refusing it."

I exhaled in relief. "That's because I do not need any help anymore. I only go to psychotherapy because Dr. Jacobs has so much to learn." He doesn't know all the Doctors Who, and mixes up the ones he does know! That is truly unbelievable.

Then Lizzie meddled. "Stephen be quiet! Kotie needs to concentrate!"

"Mom, Lizzie is the person who needs help here! She's letting people soil her face!" I pointed out. Dakota had been smearing colors on my sister's face, which my mother had apparently failed to prevent.

"Fun extinguisher!" Lizzie insulted me.

I gasped. "Inefficient time allocator!" I retorted.

"Thick-crust-pizza lover!" she retorted.

"Salty ice-cream eater!" I yelled back.

Lizzie gasped, "That was one time just to see!"

Then my mom shouted, "Enough! Enough you two!" She then turned to me, "Stephen, Lizzie is engaging in a ritual that is crucial to her acceptance in female society. This is a cornerstone on her way to eventually be granted permission to brush the silky golden hairs of a class goddess." I should inform you that by 'goddess' my mother means a girl of high social status in a school context.

Dakota chimed in, "If you want to get into that position you gotta know how to make yourself shine, so that others will trust you with their looks. And try not to stare at her in awe when you finally get to the hair brushing. That would get you kicked out of a slumber party faster than wearing your DIY deodorant. Anyway," she turned to Lizzie, "since you don't have a naturally radiating skin like myself, well who does, I've used a glitter cream and some more glitter to compensate. Here, take a look," she said, and gave her the mirror that was on the table.

Lizzie looked at herself and gave a piercing squeal, making me rapidly cover my ears.

I could still hear what she said well enough, but I will spare you the headache. The amount of time my sister can go on expressing delight over the application of chemicals on her face is unfathomable.

Even more unfathomable was my mom rushing to the couch after that, saying, "Now do me! Do me!"

Although I did not ask, I assume my feelings were shared by Max, who sat on the couch with a baffled expression, his hair and clothes covered in glitter. Luckily, I was far enough away to escape when he sneezed and caused a glitter shower.

Because of yesterday's events I came to school today determined to prove I did not need any help.

Some view the cafeteria as the best location to spot social dynamics in a school, so I gave myself 138.46 points for not sitting alone in it. Not only that, but I was sitting with my friend, Andrey, extra 50.92 points. I was already far exceeding my goal.

I was happy about that, but my happiness was short-lived. I was not pleased to see Chet Peters, a friend of Andrey's, join our table, and not at all pleased to see his girlfriend of three months, Kelly Barks-Mau join a minute later.

As I predicted, Andrey and Chet started talking about sports, while Andrey was engaging in inappropriate displays of affection with Kelly, such as putting his arm around her, and her eating a part of his bagel. Revolting.

"They just bit off more than they could chew, they were all over the place," I heard Andrey say, once I shifted my focus to the conversation.

"Oh dear, was there anybody available to do the Heimlich maneuver?" I asked.

The others looked at me with puzzled expressions.

"What do you mean?" Andrey started asking, but then Chet spoke to him, ignoring me.

"You're right, man. But maybe they'll learn from this."

Andrey nodded. There was a pause in the conversation, while everyone was chewing. Then Andrey asked Kelly, "So, how was 'Harry Potter'?"

Finally, they were talking about something of merit.

"Oh it was great! I loved it! You can see it's old, but it's worth it. Thanks for the recommendation, I'm totally geeking out!" she said.

Andrey chuckled, "Then Stephen here is your man, he's read every Potter book and watched every movie at least three times!"

"Really?" Kelly asked me.

I didn't know what to say. Why would he refer her to me to 'geek out'? Was that an insult?

I did not answer, instead taking a big bite of my lunch.

"Stephen?" Andrey asked.

"Dude, look alive," Chet said.

I did know what that means. They did not approve of my behavior.

Then, as if it weren't crowded as it was, Chet abruptly got up and invited another girl to sit with us.

To help myself cope with that I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. But, when I opened them, I discovered that two other girls, in addition to the one who was invited, were about to sit at our table. There were so many people, so many strangers, my breathing started to speed up.

"Are you okay there, Stephen?" Andrey asked.

"Intruders!" I said, looking at him.

"What?" he asked.

"You mean Maya and Cheyenne?" Kelly asked, "They're with Emma."

"No, we're at the same table, ergo they're with all of us, despite not being invited. This is unacceptable," I said.

"Stephen, that's how it works, they're a group, so if one of them sits somewhere the others join," Andrey said.

"What? That doesn't make sense. This rule suits a pack of animals in the wild, where there's vast space and predators from whom to defend themselves. The cafeteria has limited space and many students inside it, meaning a more likely danger is that of over-crowding, rendering the rule you just cited not only arbitrary but also dangerous!" I said. I had to get out of there. I quickly took the last bite of my lunch and stood up "I am not putting up with this nonsense!"

"What? Wait, Stephen!" Andrey said, but I went away.

As I was walking out of the school building, I thought about all those ridiculous rules, crass behavior and senseless speech that seemed to become more and more prevalent among my peers. 'Why should I subject myself to this nonsense? Why should I continue to suffer through this chaos? I could probably leave school and go to a university in a matter of days, I had finished my finals and catching up on courses would be an easy task. There, I would use my mind for things that really mattered, not reckless chewers and girls who subscribe to wildlife conventions!'

I walked toward the middle school outside area, which, in our school, is not separated from the high school outside area. After two minutes of looking around I located the person I was looking for – my close friend Sophie. She was sitting on a bench, watching a group of seven girls perform a dancing routine.

When I was a few steps away from her she noticed me, smiled and said, "Stevie! Hi, to what do I owe this visit, all the way from high school?" She seemed amused, I'm not sure by what.

I frowned, "It is 1479 feet away. May I sit with you?"

"Sure," she said, and scooted aside. She waited for me to sit down and then asked, "Everything okay?"

"I suppose. I am healthy, clean, and brilliant as always," I answered, looking at the group of girls.

"You have been saying that a lot lately, that brilliant, superior mind thing. Not as much as your dad, but a whole lot for you," she observed.

"That is a correct statement, but I do not understand its communicative goal."

"I'm just asking," she said.

"I haven't heard a question," I said, confused.

"Never mind," she said. "Wanna go to the library?"

"No, no, you seem to have been in the middle of an observation, I do not want you to change your plans because of me," I answered. "Would you inform me of the details of your observation? Research questions, data to be recorded, coding system."

Sophie smiled, "It's more of a 'sensing the field' observation, no recording, just watching."

"Alright," I nodded.

We sat in silence and watched for approximately three minutes, until one of the observed girls suddenly shouted in my direction, "Hey! What are you looking at, you creep?! Get out of here!"

The other girls stopped their dancing and looked at me as well.

I was frightened. I raised my hands in surrender, and shouted back "I come in peace!" To clarify my intentions, I did a flag waving gesture "I do not have a flag but please take this symbolic gesture in exchange," I pointed to the imaginary flag, "It is white, representing a call for truce."

They looked at me with puzzled expressions.

"Stephen, let's go," Sophie said.

Then, gradually, all the girls started laughing.

"Wait, he's that weirdo from ninth grade!" one of them said.

"Ohhh right, he's the one who told me last year that 'the organization system' of my locker was 'highly ineffective'!" another one said. The incident she mentioned happened eight months ago. I was sure I could help her sort her locker in a better way, but she gave me a strange look and slowly walked away.

"Is he retarded or something?" the first girl, who shouted at me, asked the others.

I stood up, furious, clenching my fists, and yelled, "I have an IQ within the range of 183-193! Presumably matched or surpassed by less than 1% of the world's population! Your suggestion is remote from the truth! Far far remote from the truth!"

Those girls stopped laughing when I yelled, but resumed as soon as I was finished.

Suddenly I heard yelling next to me, startling me at first. Given her usual demeanor, I was justified in not expecting Sophie to stand up and start yelling at those girls. "Hey! Leave him alone! What the he** is wrong with you?! You think you're better than him just because he acts differently?! Are you so unsure of yourselves you need a frickin' other kid to laugh at to feel okay?!"

There was about half a minute of silence, before the messy girl started, "We…"

"You what?" Sophie yelled, "Were joking? Didn't mean to?"

No one answered.

"Save it," Sophie said in a harsh tone, "Tell him you're sorry and go away."

The group of girls said 'Sorry' and went away. After they were gone, Sophie and I sat down again.

"Are you okay?" she asked, back in her usual tone.

I started sobbing, unable to avoid it, and put my head in my hands. "I believe I am not," I said.

"Oh Stevie…" Sophie said. "Please don't take those girls seriously. They're a bunch of childish idiots, they don't know what they're saying."

"I…I…" I started, but struggled, so I took a breath, "I need help."

"You want me to go get someone? Your aide?"

"Assistant," I corrected.

"Right," she said, "Cara, right? Or a teacher? Mr. Smith is supposed to be somewhere around."

"No," I said. I took a breath, stopped my sobbing, and raised my head, to look at Sophie. "No. I'm sorry, my emotional outburst has made me speak in an incoherent manner. I am not crying because of those girls," I explained, "I am crying because my inability to respond to them in an effective manner has proven that my mother was right. I still need help to be able to function socially. I needed your help with those girls, and I need help to understand what my peers are saying. I am not superior at all, I'm inferior. I can't get along." I hardly managed to speak the last words, as I started sobbing again.

"No, Stevie, that's nonsense! You're not inferior! You just have struggles. You're amazing in some stuff, and you need help in some other stuff. Everybody needs help sometimes. Take me for example, I need help with speaking to people I don't know, and with making choices."

"That's because you have crippling social anxiety you have been largely unsuccessful in overcoming for years," I said.

"Gee, thanks," she said.

"You're welcome." I was surprised she did not know that. And they say I have problems with self-awareness.

"What I meant is, you shouldn't be embarrassed to get help," Sophie said.

I sighed, "Ever since I was a toddler I have been to treatments. I've had treatments of all kinds, had groups, workbooks, assistants. I'm supposed to have learned by now."

"Well, it doesn't always work like that," she shrugged.

I looked down for several seconds, coming to accept the understanding that I still had a lot to learn. Then I looked at Sophie again, and asked, "Sophie, are you going to stay at school this year?"

"Yeah, I think so, I still have some finals to do, I'll probably finish them at the end of the year."

"Good. Because I believe I will need your help," I said, nodding.

"Sure," she said and smiled.

"But know that you will not be getting romantic benefits out of it," I informed her.

Sophie glared, "I am aware of that."

"I don't want you to develop any misguided expectations," I explained. That happened to Andrey once, and when he realized it he ate two pints of ice-cream and a full box of cookies. I don't think Sophie could handle that.

Sophie chuckled for an unknown reason, and then opened her arms and said "Hug," asking for permission for physical touch.

I nodded, and accepted it, as odd as her reaction was. Neurotypicals are so weird, no wonder I need help dealing with them.


	26. Revelations

_**A/N: So here's the deal... I managed to post this one on time, but I probably won't manage with t he next one. I have some big work thing to do and some RL events and stresses that will keep me from it. I hope I'll manage to post it a week later, so 3 weeks from now, but if I don't that doesn't mean I had abandoned the story. Hopefully I'll manage to go back to schedule soon.**_

 _ **I know I have my usual thanks line, but it being usual doesn't make it lss sincere. So, sincerely, thanks to all who read, followed, favorited, and reviewed, and of course thanks to my wonderful beta joyteach.**_

 _ **The Big Bang Theory belongs to Chuck Lorre and Bil Prady. I only own my OCs and to a certain extent these Halley and Michael.**_

* * *

 **26\. Revelations**

 _April, 2036._

 _[Dakota.]_

My mum talks a lot about revelations. It's a whole thing for her. How do I explain it? It's this kind of thing when you get to a special, deep spiritual state and come to know the ultimate reality.

It's rare. I have never experienced it. But I don't try that hard. I don't really like meditations, contemplating, and that sort of things. When we gather for meditation, I usually wait a few minutes until my mum's far enough into it, and sneak away. I think she knows, but she wouldn't stop mid-meditation, and she's supposed to let go of that, or something like that. I'm just not into it. She says it's important for growing and connecting with oneself, but I do that much better by watching the Fashion&Beauty channel and Celebrity news.

I don't know if I'll ever get the revelation Mum talks about, but I think there's another kind of revelations, which you don't need meditation to get. They're not religious or spiritual, not profound understandings about the world and our existence, and not only for when you're in a special state of mind. It's when you have stuff that's there but not _there_ in front of you, you still have to uncover it. Then one day something or someone helps you do that. And it changes things, and also kind of doesn't.

I think I had some of those before, but today was my biggest one yet.

It was when Halley Wolowitz came for a visit, which was a great thing already. I love it when she comes.

Halley is my dad's goddaughter, the daughter of my parents' friends Uncle Howard and Aunt Bernadette. She's kind of like a big sister to me, and I've known her since the day I was born. My mum says I remember that with my soul's memory, it works even when you're a baby. Also, there's a picture. What I remember with my normal memory is that Halley has always played with me, and even though she's six and a half years older she doesn't treat me like a stupid little girl. That's even more cool because she's the coolest. She's popular, smart and super in-style. She's a queen, like my dad calls her.

Halley didn't move away to study at the university, but she does have less time, especially less than last year when she had a gap year and we would hang out much more. So I was very happy with her visit. _And_ she gave me permission to do her nails however I liked!

We were sitting in the living room, using the little wooden coffee table for that. I like the atmosphere there better than in my room, it's more open and the warm colors of the furniture inspire me more when it comes to nails. This time I was going for a twilight palette, it felt right.

"So tell me more about college," I asked her, while starting on her nails, "you've been there for months and you've barely said anything! Is it the coolest thing ever? I bet everybody's awesome and has their own thing and you get to do whatever you want!"

Halley chuckled, "Not exactly, you do have a schedule and courses you have to take, but you do have much more choice than in middle school. And there are some very awesome people there indeed," she giggled.

"Like Tom?" I asked, in a low voice, because she hadn't told her parents yet and my dad's not great at keeping secrets. Except when it comes to keeping it from my mum when he buys me expensive clothes and products or takes me to the spa.

Halley grinned and nodded, "You know he's got the best scores in his class, in three out of three semesters he's studied so far? And they say business majors are the most competitive, and he's _the best_ of them _._ He says his secret to keep improving is that he always sets himself goals that seem just out of reach and then he reaches them. Which is true not only for studying…" she giggled, blushing, and then waved her hand, "You'll understand when you grow up."

"You're super in love with him, aren't you?"

"Hmm pretty much," she smiled.

"I wish I was in love, it must be the best, my dad says it's the most magical thing in the world!" I said, "but I haven't gotten into a boy yet. They're alright, I have a friend who's a boy, but I don't get the fuss."

Halley nodded, with a small smile.

"Halley, how does it feel when you're in love with a boy?" I asked her.

"Well, when you're into a person, there's excitement, but you also feel a special comfort around them, there's a feeling that makes you want to spend time with them, and be closer, and touch more, like with Tom-" she started, but stopped as soon as the doorbell rang, and the camera activated and showed her parents on the screen.

My mum opened it, "Hi guys, thanks for coming," she said.

Uncle Howard and Aunt Bernie came in and said hi to us.

Then Aunt Bernie turned to Mum, "Of course, he sounded really desperate on the phone."

Mum sighed, "Yeah, we tried so many things but we're not getting anywhere."

"Where is he? Where is he?" Uncle Howard said giddily, jumping on the spot a little.

Aunt Bernie elbowed him, "Howard be nice."

"I'm sorry, that was insensitive, where is _she_?" he asked.

Mum and Bernie glared at him. Then my dad came from my parents' bedroom, with his head lowered, the mask still firmly stuck to his face.

Oh I forgot to tell you about that! The night before, we had a costume party at the Indian Heritage Center my mum runs. The theme was Indian celebrities, but my dad insisted on going as Sandra Bullock in "Miss Congeniality". He said she was international, so her fame includes India as well. My mum gave up quickly, she knew there was no stopping him from dressing as Sandra Bullock, ever. Hard to blame him, that woman can do no wrong! The problem was, when he asked my uncle Anik to bring him the glue, meaning the special glue for faces, Anik brought him the super strong glue mum was using to fix a chair in the kitchen. So now Daddy was still Sandra Bullock, less than 24 hours before he had to go to work. I'm not sure why he was wearing the boots though.

Both Howard and Bernadette started snickering, and then burst out laughing.

They tried to help, pulling from different angles. Well, Aunt Bernie tried to help. Uncle Howard was too busy laughing.

"You know, I think you have a fair shot," he said at one moment, suddenly seeming serious.

"What?" Dad asked.

"We all know originality is crucial in this kind of thing. All the other pageants will probably show the same talents the judges have seen a million times before, but I'm sure no one ever came in with a telescope. And you know, you can always get a little naughty with it," he said, ending in a lower tone, raising his eyebrows twice.

"That's it, I'm coming in," Bernadette said, rolling her sleeves up.

"Huh?" Dad asked.

She took a few steps back and was about to jump on my dad, but he ran off to my parents' bedroom, screaming.

"That's okay, Honey," Howard said to Bernie, "She'll come back, you just have to show her you love her, and that you've truly changed."

They both laughed.

"Alright, that's enough," Mum said, "If you're only going to humiliate him, you'd better leave," she told them.

"Oh come on," Uncle Howard said, "He did this to himself. He's a dufus, he deserves it." He changed into a serious tone, "If he's not made fun of, the world will collapse into itself."

Mum wasn't impressed, "Well, he's _my_ dufus, so the making fun is over," she said, "Until that thing's off him."

While her parents were there, Halley changed the subject and asked me about school.

"It's all about the yearbook right now," I said, "Last week we were doing the tagging, and the results will be published tomorrow."

"Oh, that's the thing you told me about a few months ago, right? The new way to do superlatives," she said.

"Yes, there are superlatives you tag students in, like 'Most upbeat', 'Best style', 'Most likely to lead a viral movement', and you also vote for a tag for each student, like 'Cute', 'Funny'…"

"That seems nice," she said.

"Yeah…" I said.

"Okay, what's wrong?" she asked, in a 'No BS' tone.

I looked at her, "I'm pretty nervous about it. I don't think the other kids get me. Whenever I do something cool they end up calling me weird or creepy. Like the time I did Cafeteria Talk Show, or when I wrote poems for everybody on their lockers, or at winter prom when I suggested drawing feathers on everyone's faces, the theme was freedom!"

I don't know why they react that way. I'm just being my true self. My mum says you have to strive for authenticity, and to be connected with your inner self. And my dad gives me everything I want just for being me.

"Oh…" Halley said, "But are they even allowed to write insulting tags? I don't think the school will allow it."

"You can't write your own tag, you have to choose from the suggested ones. But everybody knows that if you get 'individual' or 'unique' it means you're weird. Last week a couple of guys called my friend Damon 'individual' and laughed," I said.

"Isn't he the guy who wears all black and dances in the hallways?" she asked.

"He does expressionist movement performances."

"I think you're not _that_ individual."

I shrugged, "I don't know. I _am_ less 'unique' than Karen the Second. She says her father is a snake and does finger painting all day."

Halley's eyes widened, "And her actual name is 'Karen the Second'…?"

"Yep. She claims that makes her the perfect match for Nathaniel the Fourth. He does spend a lot of time at the zoo, though."

"Remind me to check that yearbook when it comes out."

Meanwhile, after my mum 'prompted' Uncle Howard and Aunt Bernie to go, my parents' friends Stuart and Denise came to see what they could do about the Bullock situation. They're the owners of the big comic book center a few blocks away, next to the 4D movie theater.

Stuart looked closely at my dad for several minutes, and then stood up and gave an assessment, "The hair and eyebrows will be tough to over-run, and the cheek structure wouldn't quite match, but I think I can make him into a decent, yet slightly effeminate Raj."

I forgot to say, Stuart is also an illustrator.

Mum sighed, "If we can't get it off, might as well…"

Dad lowered his head.

"Wait! Wait!" Denise said, and all eyes turned on her. "Why don't you turn him into Cat Woman?" she suggested, excited, "Or, or Harley Queen! Nobody's gonna be messing with her!"

"Oh! I know! I know! Dr. Light! She's an astronomer!" Stuart said, excited as well.

"But I'm an astrophysicist!" Dad protested.

"Yeah, _that's_ the problem here," Mum said.

Halley and I stopped listening then and turned back to our business. I finished working on her nails, and then had an idea, "Halley?" I turned to her.

"Yes?"

"Would you mind making me your new project?"

She frowned, "What do you mean?"

"I mean popular. You know about popular. Make me popular, so that I'm not…'Individual', anymore."

Halley looked at me for a few seconds, silent. "I don't know, Kotie…"

"What's not to know? If you make me popular then everybody at school would like me."

"Maybe, but they wouldn't like _you,_ they'd like what you'd make yourself into."

"You've done that for other girls before!"

"Yes, but this is different," she insisted.

"Why?"

"Because I love you! _You_ -you, the way you are. Individual as you are. I don't want to lose the Kotie I love."

I sighed and looked down.

"I'm sorry," she said, and touched my arm, careful not to stain me and ruin her nails.

I looked at her and smiled, "I understand. It's like when Tiffany from my class dyed her hair blond and started wearing super-tight clothes and flipping her hair all the time. She's still gorgeous, but I liked her the way she was. I think she was much more dreamy when she had her red hair and wore her cute, flowy dresses. She's just so cute, and that make-over took away from that. But just a little, she still has the smile that's worth a thousand roses."

Halley smiled, "I think you told me about her."

"Probably. I was the happiest when she came to my birthday party last year. But then I accidentally poured hot chocolate on her and froze after that, and she kept her distance for the rest of the evening."

"Aww…"

"At least she didn't yell at me like Jameela from eighth grade did when I slipped and bumped into her. She was just so pretty that day, I wasn't paying attention."

Halley just smiled. "Kotie, I really don't know, only you could figure that out, but, have you ever thought you may be gay?"

I took a moment to think. I hadn't seriously considered that before, I just thought I was 'a girl's girl', like people say about me, and that that is why I liked being with some girls so much, and didn't find boys that interesting. I remember feeling different, ever since I was little, but I thought that was because I was 'special', like my parents say, and 'creative'. I was never asked if I was gay, like some other kids in my school were, and I know three of them did turn out to be gay. But now that she said that, it just, it made sense. It felt true, a reality. A revelation.

While I was thinking about that, and talking a bit with Halley, I could hear a bit of my parents talking, now that Stuart and Denise had gone.

Dad sounded really stressed out, "How am I going to go to work this way?! And the planetarium! People would sure love seeing Sandi's face, but what if she sues me?! I was hoping she'd forget about the telescope incident, but with this it is never going to happen!"

"Raj, Darling, you are going to have to calm down," Mum said.

"Why? Do you believe that will help me remove this mask from my face?" he asked.

"No, but it will help me avoid removing you from this house," she said.

About an hour later Halley decided it was time for her to go home. I walked with her to the door and thanked her.

"You don't need to thank me, silly, it was just a thought."

I smiled at her and said, "It must be so nice to have it all figured out and be the best, like you are. If there was tagging when you were at school you'd probably get something like 'Top _Everything'"._

I was surprised when her smile turned into a sad one, and she sighed, half-whispering, "That would be very unfitting. Sure, I may be popular, and I got killer grades and a top boyfriend, but… Please don't tell anybody this, okay?"

I nodded, confused.

She sighed, "I still don't have any idea what to do with my life. I still don't know what to major in. I took a gap year, and I took a study program where I only have to declare my major next year, but I still have absolutely no idea. Meanwhile Riley's already finishing her physics B.A, the same year she started, and already has ideas for her thesis…"

(By that she meant Riley Hofstadter, her family is also friends with our families. She's 16 but she finished school early.)

I frowned, not understanding how Halley Wolowitz could feel bad about herself, "But you're not Riley," I said, "Every one of us has a different life journey. I'm not sure exactly what that means but that's what my mum says," I shrugged, "Maybe you just need someone to help you get that revelation, like you did for me."

"Maybe I do," she smiled and was quiet for a moment. "Hey, maybe your moms could help you with your revelation, based on their experience in the area," she joked.

I chuckled, and we said goodbye.

It was an interesting experience, having dinner with Sandra Bullock. I won't be having one with the real Sandi anytime soon because of my dad's restraining order, so at least there was that.

We talked about the tagging. I wished for it not to come up, but Dad remembered. I told them about my worries.

"You probably never had to worry about those things, you're cool," I told them.

They both started laughing.

"Sugar, I was the only Indian girl in a public school in a poor neighborhood, and a spiritual one at that," my mum said, "Cool was the last thing I was. There was no 'tagging', but I was called 'Buddha', 'Hippie-Dippie', 'Yoga', and tons of other stupid names. I was very 'Individual'."

"I lived in India," Dad said, "but I still was 'Unique'. I couldn't talk to girls or women, and was reading books about space, comic books and American tabloids all the time. I was called a creep, 'Space-head', and actually, 'Sandra Bullock' for a few months."

We all laughed at that.

"But you know," Mum said, "it wasn't just bad. It sure wasn't nice to be called names, but those names I was called in school made me decide to take pride in my heritage and my religion. If I was the odd one out, I'd be that all the way, and be proud of it. And there was actually another 'tag' I got later in life. My aunt said I was a 'Workaholic', and unable to open myself up to anything else than the center. That was sort of a revelation for me, and it is one of the things that made me decide to follow my heart with your father, be open to it and work for it, instead of rejecting him right away, saying I had a lot on my mind, like I used to do quite often."

"Good thing she didn't tell you that before," Dad said.

Mum smiled, "I think we would have found each other anyway," she said. "After all, you are the woman of my life," she smirked.

"Umm speaking of that…" I said, wanting to use the opportunity, but also not wanting them to keep flirting because Yuck, "I also had a revelation, sort of, about a tag Halley suggested."

"Yeah? What was it?" Dad asked.

"I think, I think I may be gay. I'm not sure yet, but, it could be. I think so."

"Hmm," Mum said, and looked thoughtful, "That does seem… plausible. You know, either way we love you and want you to be who you are. I know some of the pictures and books at the Center are kind of old-fashioned in that sense, but they're old, I hope you know that doesn't mean that's the only way acceptable. Now that I think of that, we should get texts and paintings that present same-sex relations, they do exist."

"That's a cool thing to learn about yourself," Dad said, "and it's okay not to be sure yet, you're only 12, that's nothing! In fact, you probably shouldn't get involved with anyone for at least six years."

"Raj!" Mum said.

Dad sighed, "Fine. It could be fun, I guess, if you're into girls, I could give you some tips."

"As long as you don't involve Howard in this," Mum said.

"I believe I can handle it myself," he said, "I did get you." Then he noticed something on the counter, "Hey, is that Aloe Vera gel?"

"What? Oh, that's where I left it!" Mum said.

Then the door suddenly opened, and Aunt Bernie rushed in and jumped on dad, pulling off his mask at once.

"So long, Sandi," Bernie said, triumphantly, while Dad screamed, and Mum rubbed the Aloe Vera gel on his face.

* * *

 _ **A/N: One day a "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" fan will read this and catch my nods, one day.**_


	27. Playing

_**A/N: Not really chapter time, 'cause I'm off schedule, but still the time I hoped to post :)**_

 _ **This is really thanks to joyteach, my awesome beta who went over this so quickly! If there's any mistake it's on me, I told her to be less thorough than she usually is. Joyteach Thank you so much!**_

 _ **RL has been kinda crazy for the last few weeks. Big work things, relatives with health issues (and some issue for me but that's better now), and also positive events but still time-demanding. I actually couldn't write for two weeks and before that had trouble getting much done. So I'm way off schedule now. Usually when I post I had already finished writing the next chapter. Now I hadn't even started outlining the chapter (except the main ideas for the chapter, written in the general story outline). So I really can't tell when I'll get to finish and post the next chapter, I just hope it will be soon and that some day I'll manage to get back to my former schedule...**_

 _ **Thank you so much to all who are still following this, and also to those who did. Thanks for reading, reviewing, favoriting. I love reading your reviews. Thanks again to joyteach for beta-reading.**_

 _ **The Big Bang Theory does not belong to me. I'll give you a moment to overcome this huge shock. Good? Great. So, yeah. I only own my OCs, and to some extent these Halley and Michael.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 27: Playing**

 _June, 2036._

 _[Michael.]_

I had only a few minutes left before I had to go, and I had only checked myself once in the mirror, when doing my hair. I didn't know why, I just didn't want to check anymore. Which was damn weird, I'd usually check myself at least three times before going to a regular party, heck, I spent almost half an hour in front of the mirror before heading to Comic-Con last year, so how could I not want more than a minute's glance before going to MY SENIOR PROM?

I thought maybe I was just too excited. Besides, I knew I looked at least decent, not like 'uh..decent...' but like, _decent_. It couldn't be less than that with the suit I was wearing. It was a very classic navy-blue Italian suit. High gorge lines, high buttons, tapered waist. It was very expensive. My parents were really generous with the budget, and my dad even gave me some extra cash after Mom left.

I spent so much time picking up that suit, but you can't blame me! For the first time in my life I could actually try on the suits at 'Silver Closet', the high-end suit store in the shopping center. Usually I just look around until the someone kicks me out, but nope, this time I came in to buy something, and I had a wallet full of cash to prove it!

It was the dream I always thought it would be. Just feeling the fabrics on those babies… Wow. And then seeing myself in them, forget The One Ring, it should be one suit to rule the world, and any of those suits would do. I had to choose eventually, but it was one of the most fun afternoons I ever had.

I remember I came out wearing that tan one with the stiff canvas and the structured shoulders. I felt like a special guest in a museum fundraising event, pondering which wing suits my name better.

"How's this one?" I turned to ask, grinning.

"…Like the one before but…more brownish?" Riley said tentatively, with a sheepish smile at the end.

I frowned, "The last one had a much looser fit, surgeon's cuffs, and flap pockets! It was nothing like this one!"

Riley groaned and flopped back in the chair she was slouching in, "I don't know, Gulliver, they all look the same to me."

"Come on, I need your help, I gotta look burnin' hot, but still hella' classy. Right now it's between this one and the Ted Baker charcoal grey."

Riley narrowed her eyes.

"You don't remember it, do you?"

"No, no, sure I remember, I'm just trying to visualize it, you've tried many since…"

"It was the one before the last one! Really elegant, a lot of buttons…" I tried reminding her, but she only looked more confused. "Were you even paying attention?"

"Wha- Yes I was!" she said, obviously lying.

Suddenly something occurred to me. I quickly took away her phone and opened her pad.

"Hey!" she protested.

"Equations! I knew it!"

"That doesn't prove anything, I've had equations on my pad since I was nine," she crossed her arms.

I pointed at a particular one, "Did you have that one too, the one you told me you were working on this morning, all solved now?"

"Whaaat…?" she started, "That's not… Okay fine," she groaned, seeing I wasn't buying it, "But I looked at you every time you told me to! Come on, Michael, we've been here for almost an hour and a half now!"

"I didn't say anything when it took you 20 minutes to decide if you wanted that body wash," I reminded.

"Hey, its smell reminded me of my mom's hand cream, but its texture reminded me of Uncle Sheldon's VapoRub, I was conflicted!"

I sighed, "Look, this is important to me, so as my best friend you should be helping me with it."

Riley rolled her eyes and sighed, "Fine, you're right, I'm sorry. This one's okay."

"Just okay? Then that's a no."

"I didn't mean that in a bad way," she said.

"I told you, I gotta look burnin' hot, 'okay' doesn't cut it," I said, turning to the mirror again.

"You don't need all those fancy suits to look hot," she said.

"Riles, I know you think clothes don't matter, but they do to me, so would you please just try to help?"

"That's not what I meant, I meant-" she sighed, "Never mind."

I turned to her, "I'm going to try the Italian one now, keep in mind, 'Burnin' hot, hella' classy'."

"You know, my opinion doesn't matter anyway. Why don't you ask your girlfriend? It's her opinion you should care about," Riley said. "Going by that, you should probably just wear the closest thing to your basketball jersey, according to the way she jumped on you at the end of the game last month," she rolled her eyes.

I chuckled, "She'd kill me if I did." Then I realized something, "Wait, you saw that? I thought you left just before. My parents said you were in a hurry, you know, 'cause you're so busy finishing your BA."

"Come on, you know I never miss a minute of your games," she said.

I smiled.

"You're in the league with all the schools in the Caltech and UCLA area, you never know when somebody's gonna cling on the hoop 'til the firemen arrive, throw the ball at a janitor, or lose the ball when they jump," she chuckled.

"That janitor won us the game, though," I reminded, chuckling as well.

After a moment Riley said, "It's just that the game was over and I saw Malia all over you… You had enough going on and I did need to finish a project, so I went home," she shrugged.

Now with three minutes left, I finally shook away my thoughts and took a look in the mirror. Yep, you couldn't go wrong with that suit. I knew Malia would appreciate my look. She likes me in suits, and I wore the red tie she bought me, so that we'd match.

"Well well well… Look at you, a hot and suave Wolowitz basketball man, ready to hit it on with his cheerleader girlfriend," my dad said in his creepy low suggestive tone, entering my room.

"Hi Dad," I said simply, being well used to it.

"That's it? 'Hi Dad'? Michael, you're about to have the most awesome night, probably the best night of your life! And you know I'm not just talking about prom. Everybody knows it's what comes after that matters, and my boy's got it going! A hotel room, Champ! Tonight's the night!"

"Yeah, I guess…" I said, rubbing my neck.

"Show some excitement, kiddo, you got everything going for you, but with a crappy attitude you're not gonna seal the deal. You've waited long enough, and tonight's one of the last nights you're gonna be a basketball player, don't let your moment get away!"

"Yeah…" I sighed.

"Speaking of basketball…" he started.

I rolled my eyes, knowing well where he was going with this. "We've talked about this a million times Dad, I'm not going to play in college, let it go."

"Michael, think about it, really think. Right now, you're a basketball player. If you have your way, as soon as high school's over you'll be _not_ a basketball player. You don't want that, Buddy, believe me, I've got years of experience in being not a basketball player."

I groaned, rubbing my forehead, "It doesn't even matter, Dad, I can't play at college, it's a whole other league. It'll be like the time you tried to win over that Bar-Mitzvah kid at Laser Tag, or when Uncle Stuart tried to race that lady from his bingo club. You guys didn't stand a chance. Besides, I may be a Gulliver in this house, but next to college players, I'm…what you are to normal people. They're gonna stomp all over me without even noticing."

"You won't know 'til you try… You know how many times I tried to get in the wrestling team when I was your age?"

"And you made it?!" I asked, in shock.

"Oh hell no! One time I got hit so bad, I couldn't see green for two weeks. A truly underappreciated color," he said.

I scrunched my face, then said, "Well, I gotta go…"

"Right, right, go blow your woman's mind, like a real Wolowitz man!" he said, walking to the door, "Oh, almost forgot," he then said, turning around and getting something out of his pocket, two condoms.

I was creeped out but wanted him to leave, so, looking away, I took them from him.

"Maybe you should use both, the Wolowitz stuff is strong, we already got one Michael out of that, now's not the time for another," he chuckled.

"Wait, what?" I asked.

"Uhh never mind, love you, son," he said quickly, tapping on my back, and then went to the door, "Don't take anything from the minibar," he said, leaving.

One more minute. I took a breath. All this talk about the hotel, and the… you know, plans for it… I don't know, it made real nervous.

It wasn't my plan. I didn't even think about it, until that time at lunch a month ago. All the guys were talking about 'what happens after prom' and I suddenly realized everybody was getting hotel rooms and they were all gonna do it all night. Of course I played along saying I was doing it too. It was what all 'The Grit Men' would be doing. Thank God the hotel most of them booked still had a room, and that Malia agreed to it.

Actually, she seemed to expect it, and be really into it. "I thought you'd never ask," she said, in a flirty kinda way. She then did this thing when she taps my chest with her fingers, and then pulls me in for a kiss.

I was getting my stuff, ready to go, when I heard a noise coming from my closet. At first I thought it was a rat, but then there was giggling.

"What the hell?!" I said, opening the closet to reveal Halley and her boyfriend, Tom.

"Oh, hey Mike, it's Mike, right?" Tom said nonchalantly, Halley smiling awkwardly next to him "we thought you already left, you were damn quiet for a minute there."

I looked at Halley, who shrugged, uncomfortable, "Tom and I wanted to check out other parts of the house…"

"Ew!" I groaned, turning away, totally grossed out.

"Dad's not gonna barge in on us here," she said, "You know how hard it is to find a place like that!".

"You know what, Baby doll," Tom said, "Let's find someplace else."

"Thank you!" I said, still with my back to them.

"You know I like a challenge," he continued, in a suggestive tone, making me wanna puke.

"Alrighty," Halley said, all giggly. God, she turns into such a stupid little fan girl when she's with him. Normal, strong, confident Halley can be annoying some times but I like her so much better.

"Whatever," I said, "As long as you're not defiling my closet. Or my room!" I turned back, pointing at them.

"Got it, pal," Tom said, and winked at me.

"Well I gotta go," I said.

"To pick up Malia?" Halley asked.

"Yeah, if I don't go out now we'll be late to meet her squad, they want to come in all together."

"Mhmm," Halley nodded, looking, I dunno, kinda down or something.

"You really don't like her, do you?" I asked. It wasn't the first time she had this weird reaction when I talked about Malia. She doesn't do it when Malia's here, but other times, with just a mention, she gets all weird, like, disappointed? Concerned? I dunno. And she never says anything, which drives me crazy.

"No, it's not that," she said, "Just- forget it."

"Just say it!"

"It's nothing, really," she said.

I groaned, "Halley I know you, it is something, but I really have to go." I turned and opened the door.

"Michael," Halley called.

"What?" I asked, sharply.

"You don't have to do things that don't feel right, okay?" she said, looking straight into my eyes. She seemed concerned.

Tom chuckled, "Oh come on Baby, you're lucky no one else is here. You don't say that to a guy, you might as well cut his balls off and then crush them with a hammer."

Surprisingly, Halley seemed unfazed. "Michael?" she wanted an answer, her eyes still looking straight into mine, as if she was trying to send me a message telepathically.

Seeing that it seemed so important to her, I nodded, and then walked away.

I got on the line right on time, letting out an audible "Phew". Malia would've killed me if I was late. I guess I'm making her sound like a bit of a b***h by saying that. She really isn't. She just cares a lot about her friends from the cheer squad. If there's anything I've learned in my five months with Malia, it's that cheerleaders are very loyal to one another. They're more tight-knit than the Ninja Turtles. They always have each other's backs, they have to update each other on _everything_ , and they have to do every big school-thing together.

If you were the guys from school I'd tell you that's not the only thing I've learned. You know, in a suggestive kinda way. But the truth is, Malia's not more daring than Jess was, certainly not more than Brandi, this girl I dated for a bit after I broke up with Jess. Man, she had some wild make-out moves, I literally had to run away from her one time. I'm not exaggerating, she was as tall as I am and very determined, it was scary. No, Malia may be a cheerleader, but that doesn't make her 'naughty' like the guys say cheerleaders are. She does know how to make it seem that way though, with her sexy looks, touches, the tones. I guess she's just playing along with that 'sexy cheerleader' thing, like I do when I talk with the guys.

Not that she's not sexy. She sure as hell is. She's quite tall, she's got an amazingly toned belly, jaw-dropping legs, and beautiful black curls and strong brown eyes. She's also not mean like those cheerleaders in the movies. She's nice and easy-going. She's fun to hang with. Although maybe not as fun as Jess.

Ugh, I gotta stop doing that, comparing to Jess. It's stupid. See, I broke up with Jess because I felt it wasn't _it,_ but, after that I haven't found anyone that was more _it_ than her. Well, except… but that's never gonna… you know. I made my decision, I took a risk letting Jess go, and it turned out to be a mistake, I guess. Maybe Jess was the most it I could get? Anyway, that is what I did and now I have to man up and accept that. I know that 'it' thing exists. I wish I didn't, that would've made things easier, I could've just chalked it off as movie crap for girls. But maybe the crap part is that you gotta have it, I mean, if it's so hard to find, and impossible when you do find it, maybe you should just suck it up and accept that you're not gonna get it. And stop whining, and thinking about it, and imagining it all the time, her. Just thank God if you have a girlfriend and enjoy it like a normal guy, just be a man, Michael.

How could I not enjoy the girlfriend I had? The moment she opened the door, I had to gulp hard. She was stunning. Her dress was gorgeous, her hair and the make-up, I don't know what she did but it was perfect. But what made her look the best I've ever seen her, tonight, was the giant smile she had on her face. That smile wouldn't leave her face for the entire time we spent at prom.

There was really no reason for her smile to go away. The prom was fantastic. The DJ was on fire, we had all our friends with us, the place looked neat. So why couldn't I enjoy it? Just have fun? I had everything I needed to have an awesome night, and instead I felt tense, and nervous, and just wrong. All I wanted was to get out of there as fast as I could.

I didn't show it, of course. I played along. I put on my best smile, danced with Malia and my friends, exchanged innuendos with the guys about what was to come later. Man, I wish I could enjoy the night like _that_ Michael, the one they saw.

We did get out of there soon enough. One by one the guys, my friends and some other guys dating Malia's friends, would wink at their girls, or whisper to them, and then they'd leave the place.

After quite a bit of our friends had left, I looked at Malia, and saw her looking at me intensely, expectantly. "I guess we could…" I said.

Malia smiled, took my hand, and led me to the doors.

The hotel was nearby, so it was no longer than 40 minutes before we got to our room. It all felt so fast. I felt like I was on a train going 300 miles per hour, desperately wanting it to stop.

Malia closed the door and immediately turned and started kissing me, deeply. "I'm nervous," she said, after a few minutes, smiling.

"Really? Me too!" I blurted out.

"What?!" she suddenly took a step back, looking at me, surprised.

"Wha- What?" I was confused.

"You said you were nervous" she said, her voice getting high.

I had no idea what was going on. "Umm Yeah, after you did," I said.

"Yeah, but I said it like excited-nervous, not nervous-nervous!" she exclaimed.

"So did I!" I said.

"No you didn't, you said it like nervous-nervous!" she said.

I sighed, "Well I meant excited-nervous," I said, and took her hands in mine, trying to calm her down.

"Really?" she asked.

"Really," I said, smiling.

"Okay," she smiled in relief.

We started kissing again. It started softly and slowly, and got deeper and more passionate as it went. Stepping back, I got to the bed, and sat on it, with Malia in my lap.

"You wanna…?" she asked, turning her back to me, so I could open her zipper.

I slowly opened her zipper, and her dress slid off her shoulders. She then stood up and turned to me, getting her dress off, a shy but sly smile on her face.

I gulped hard, my eyes almost popping out of my head and my heart pounding.

Malia then started taking off my clothes. She started with the jacket, then the tie and the shirt, and then started taking off my pants, slowly.

I was on that train again, the 300 mph. I didn't know where it was going, but I was helpless and filled with dread. Something didn't feel right, this was not the way I was supposed to feel, was it? But it was ridiculous, I was about to score, to do what all men want. I couldn't stop. I shouldn't stop, why was I even thinking it? I should've played along, be a man.

Something didn't feel right.

"Halley," came out of my mouth, without me even realizing.

"WHAT?!" Malia almost yelled, in a very high pitch, immediately standing up. A second before she was all nervous-excitement and sexy smiles. Now she was freaked out.

"What?" I asked, in a haze, still not registering what I'd said.

"We're about to do it and you say YOUR SISTER'S NAME?!"

"I did?" I asked.

"What the hell, Michael?! WHAT. THE. HELL?!"

I laid back on the bed forcefully, frustrated, slamming my hands on my face. 'Yes, what the hell, Michael?!' I asked myself.

Malia turned away, sighed, and put her face in her hands.

"I'm sorry," I said, helpless, sitting up. "I don't know where it came from. It's probably because, because she said my suit looked good, so when you took it off I just thought, 'Hey, she was right!'" I made up. Halley did like the suit, but I knew that wasn't why I was reminded of her.

Malia turned to me and looked me in the eyes. She took a breath, "Michael, do you really want to do this?"

"What? Of course! What kind of crazy guy wouldn't?" I said quickly, smiling.

"I don't know, I didn't ask another guy, I asked you. Do _you_ want to do this?"

I kept smiling, but couldn't get to answer.

Malia took a breath again, and her eyes started to water, "Michael, I know we haven't talked about it yet, but I'm gonna need you to answer this one sincerely. Do you love me?"

This took me by surprise. "I.. I.. I.." I stammered.

Malia just nodded. She put on her dress, took her purse and then looked at me, tears rolling down her cheeks. "Goodbye, Michael," she said and walked to the door, while I was staring at her, frozen.

It took me a few moments to come to my senses, and start getting dressed again, and leave. I barely remember a thing, I can't even tell you if the person doing the check-out was a man or a woman. I was going on auto-pilot. It couldn't have been otherwise. I was too busy wanting to kick my own ass. I kept seeing Malia with tears in her eyes again and again. I could also see my dad being incredibly disappointed in me, not believing what had happened. And the guys at school, they would never shut up about it. Why wouldn't they? Why couldn't I have just gone with it? Played along? Why couldn't I have been a man? Instead I was a wuss, I hurt Malia, and my dad would be so ashamed.

I got off the line and realized it was not my house I was standing before. I guess even on auto-pilot, I knew I couldn't face my dad yet, I'd have to make up something to explain my failure. Right now, I needed a break. I needed time to relax and just be myself.

I checked the time. Since we'd left prom quite early, and gone out of the hotel quickly, it was still early enough. It was also not a school night, and I knew she was having a Star Wars Original Trilogy marathon with her dad, which should've been over just a few minutes before.

I knocked on the door quietly, not to wake anybody up. I then smiled awkwardly at the door camera.

"Gulliver?" Riley asked as she opened the door, surprised and confused. I knew she wasn't asleep, but she still looked kinda sleepy, and was wearing her Star Wars sleep shirt. It has about a dozen stains on it, and her mom's tried to get her to throw it away a thousand times, but she loves it. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Hi… I… Were you about to sleep?"

"Not yet, but aren't you supposed to sleep at that hotel? At the sleepover?"

I smiled, to stop myself from chuckling. You see, Aunt Penny is very protective, actually more like super, extra, mega protective. She'd make up all kinda stuff so that Riley wouldn't have much of an idea about stuff like… 'The After-Prom Sleepover'. "Yeah… I… didn't feel like it," I answered. "May I come in?"

"Sure," she said, and let me in.

"Michael," Uncle Leonard said, getting up from the couch, the credits of their last movie rolling on the screen.

"Hi Uncle Leonard," I smiled weakly.

"I thought you had… plans," he started, furrowing his eyebrows. My dad had already bragged about my 'plans' to all his friends.

"He decided to give up on the sleepover," Riley shrugged.

"Right, _the sleepover,"_ Leonard said, nodding. "Is everything okay, Michael?"

"Yeah… I just thought, I thought I'd see if I could spend some time here, instead of the sleepover," I said, looking from Leonard to Riley.

"Can he, Daddy? We'll be quiet," she said, pleadingly.

"Sure, sure," he said, and put a hand on my shoulder, giving me a comforting smile, "If you want, you can spend the night, either in the garage, or in Max's room. I don't think he'll wake up easily tonight, he's pretty tired from the latest 'Maixdent'" he chuckled.

Riley chuckled, too.

I looked at her, questioningly.

"He wanted to try hot sauce. Apparently 'all his friends eat it'," she said, nodding to the little bottle filled with sauce on the coffee table, next to a bowl of popcorn and a bowl of candy, both without much left in them.

"Yikes," I said, scrunching my nose. "Thank you, Uncle Leonard, I think I'll take the garage, that old couch is surprisingly comfortable."

"It is," Leonard said, smiling, "Alright, I'm gonna head upstairs, if you guys want, there's another bag of popcorn on the kitchen island. Goodnight, kids," he said, and then kissed Riley's forehead, and they hugged, and then he put a hand on my shoulder again.

"Goodnight, Daddy."

"Goodnight, Uncle Leonard."

We called, as he went upstairs.

"So… Wanna pick something to watch?" Riley said, on her way back to the couch.

"Sure," I smiled and sat next to her.

She went to the TV menu, but then looked at me, suspicious, "Hey, Gulliver, what really happened? With the sleepover? It's not like you to bail on something all your friends are doing."

I looked at her for a moment. I don't keep much from Riley, but I couldn't tell her all about that. Not only did it feel so wrong, but also, if Aunt Penny found out, I might wake up floating in the middle of the sea, with only one couch cushion and that striped pillow holding me.

I sighed, looking at the floor, "I don't know… It was supposed to be awesome, something every guy dreams of, but, it didn't feel that way, it didn't feel right, and I couldn't play along. I guess I'm not enough of a man."

"What does that have to do with being a man?" Riley asked, confused.

I looked at her, "Never mind. Let's watch Ocean Girl or something."

"Alright," she said, and started clicking. "But weren't you a man at 13? Your Bar-Mitzvah?" she asked, before choosing an episode. "I'd assume in five years you'd be enough of a man for a sleepover. Maybe it just wasn't right for you, we're not all the same, something could be right for many but not for everyone," she shrugged.

"Yeah, maybe," I smiled, nodding.

"Although, I'm not sure the Jewish threshold for a man is that high. I mean, I almost destroyed you with my toffee that day," she chuckled.

"Did not!" I claimed back.

"Did too! You should've seen how far down your neck went the moment I hit it."

"I just looked down to see what hit me! I barely even felt your poor little toffee!"

"Oh, really?" she asked, in a mischievous tone, and before I knew it, a toffee, from the bowl on the coffee table, hit my chin.

"Hey!" I protested, and hit back with a bunch of gummy bears.

A candy and popcorn war started, with both of us laughing, and making a major mess. Then there was the unmistakable sound of a bottle hitting the ground.

We looked down, relieved to see there wasn't much sauce on the floor, and thankful that the bottle was plastic. I suppose they poured the sauce into that bottle to minimize the damages of the Maxident they knew would be coming.

But then I realized, if the sauce did not spill on the ground, then…

"Oh Man!" The left side of my suit was covered in sauce, from the bottom of my jacket all the way down to my socks.

There was a moment of silence, then Riley said, "Huh, I guess you got to be burnin' hot and hella classy after all."

We started snorting, then bursting out laughing.

"Idiots," Halley said, shaking her head, the bag of popcorn in her hands, leaving us looking at each other in deep confusion.


	28. Lost

_**A/N: It's... not chapter time. Like, really, not chapter time.  
I'm sorry guys, it's been so long... I had a whole lot going on, both professionally and personally, and didn't have any time to write. These chapters take time to write, it's not a matter of an hour here, an hour there and it's done. Sure, I could write 1k words chapters, mostly descriptive and with no consideration of pacing, the right way for the characters to speak and so... I'd be done quickly, since I have a full outline for this story. But that's not what I'm doing here. I hope some of you guys are still with me here. I'll try to post more frequently, but I don't want to make promises. I won't post new chapters less than 2+ weeks after the ones preceding them, though, even if I have them finished, allowing me, hopefully, to get a bit ahead, so that the gaps between chapters won't be too long.**_

 _ **Thank you very much to all who read, followed, favorited, reviewed, and even more to those who still do. Special thanks to my wonderful beta reader, still sticking with me, joyteach.**_

 _ **This chapter takes place seven months after the previous one. It's been a long time, so here's something to help you follow: Halley is 20 and in college, Michael is 18 and started his academic studies a few months before. Riley is 17 and in her second year in university. Stephen - 15, Sophie - 14, Kotie - 13, Max and Lizzie - 10.**_

 _ **The Big Bang Therory does not belong to me, but to Lorre and Prady. But I have fanfiction allowing me to play with their characters, and make some new ones, which do belong to me. Also, I think I deserve a certain credit for this story's Halley and Michael. Hey, neither of them was much of a character on the show...**_

* * *

 __ **Chapter 28: Lost**

 _January, 2037._

 _[Halley.]_

My middle school Social Studies teacher, Ms. Simmons, once told me that when you're looking for something you lost, something that's important to you, the first thing to do is to take a deep breath, and think of a course of action. Otherwise, you'd be all over the place and have much worse chances of finding it. It was when I lost the alien pin my dad gave me, one that he took with him to space, years ago, when he traveled there to work on his equipment. It's ridiculous and creepy, but I always kept it with me, hidden in some small pocket in my backpack. I still do. Ever since that day, I try to follow that advice when I'm looking for things. But this time, Ms. Simmons' advice was more relevant than ever, because what was lost was.. me.

Well, more specifically, it was my path that I lost, and I was taking forever to find it. But I didn't have the time anymore. This was it. I had only one week to declare my major. And, just like when I applied to college, I had absolutely no idea what I wanted it to be. I was a loser. A lost loser. Me, Halley Wolowitz. And the worst of it was, I didn't even know how it happened.

My stupid brother had a path. He went straight into an Engineering program at Caltech. He's even started to think of a branch to specialize in. Microengineering. A perfect combination of our parents' fields.

Me? I had nothing. Sure, I had wonderful grades. In everything I took, including the courses I took just to get the credits, the ones that were for fun. I had perfect scores in many courses in Biology, Physics, Computer Science. I got compliments from some tough professors. But, somehow, I didn't enjoy that. It made me start thinking something might be wrong with me, how could I not enjoy crushing it?

Anyway, that is how I got to where I was today. Aimless, helpless. Ashamed. I was supposed to be a strong, self-reliant woman, like my mom always said I should be. Yet here I was, lost.

No one said anything critical about that. Not even Uncle Sheldon. They probably all pity me. Of course they do. I can't believe I've gotten to this. Being pitied. Mom must be so disappointed in me.

So, I needed a course of action, desperately. What do you do when you're looking for something you lost? Where would it be?

Sometimes, it's where you last had it.

When did I last have a path? When did I know where I was going? What's ahead? Probably in high school, I thought. That's why I invited Ivory over two days ago. After school, our girl group pretty much fell apart. Everyone had their own lives, whatever they were doing. But Ivory and I kept being besties. To tell the truth, she was always my one and only bestie anyway. She still is. Sure, I've made friends in college, but no one could replace Ive.

I think I told you Ivory was going to study Photography at USC. One of her dads was against it at first, but she stuck to it and he supported her eventually. She says now he's the one to help her with projects the most. She also keeps modeling every now and then. She's gorgeous and very professional, I saw that when I watched her model a few times. But she's not that good at asking for what she deserves. If it wasn't for me, she would've taken about two thirds of what she eventually got for the project she did in New York last year.

So Ive came and we sat down in the living room with our coffee mugs. If only I'd known Michael's giant friend, Jordan, was coming. Seriously, the guy's about 7ft. He was the only one of Michael's high school basketball team who was actually good, and he's now playing in college. He may be great on a court, but whenever he comes to our house, it's like there's an earthquake. With plenty of after-shocks.

But that wasn't really the problem that day. I thought Jordan was alright, even kinda cool. Well, he is, usually. But the moment he saw Ivory…

"Hey Halley, hey Ive, how are you doing?" Michael said, when they got in.

"Hi Michael, I'm doing great, you?" Ive answered.

"Great, thanks," he answered, not noticing Jordan behind him, frozen, with his mouth almost reaching the floor. A mouth that's almost 7ft above the floor.

"Hi Jordan," I said, but there was no answer.

That's when Michael figured he should introduce them, "Oh, right, Ivory, this is my friend Jor-"

Jordan suddenly became alive. Too alive. "Jordan, Jordan, I'm Jordan, hi," he said quickly, and shook Ivory's hand, eagerly, leaving a pained expression on her face. "I'm a friend of Michael's, from high school, basketball. We were an awesome team, the two of us, everybody was always cheering for us, they had this name for us, you know, apart we were Michael and Jordan, but together we were-"

"Michael Jo-" Ivory tried to complete, nodding.

"The Two Crew!" he finished, with a pose.

"Oh. That's nice… I'm Ivory…" she smiled awkwardly.

"Well, we've got a lot to do, there's a new game, so…" Michael said, realizing he should save poor Ive, but Jordan didn't budge, "Jordan…"

"Jordan!" Michael and I said at the same time, finally making him react, and go upstairs with Michael.

"So…" I started, but was cut off by a big thud.

"Sorry," Jordan said, apparently after bumping against the wall, probably, no, obviously, because his eyes were fixed on Ive.

We waited until they settled in Michael's room (which could be heard), and then finally started to talk. I told her about my thoughts, of having this sense of purpose in high school, of knowing where I was going, and asked her if there's something she remembers from that time that could help.

Ivory thought for a little. "Well," she started, "I think high school was kind of like a game. I mean the social stuff. You knew the game, you knew your moves and you played to win. Real life's not like that, life's not a game."

That's when a big "Yeah!" sounded, and then a big thud from upstairs, shaking the house.

"Yeah, I guess that's a good thing," I said, "otherwise we probably wouldn't have a house."

No, my path wasn't there. Where else could something lost be?

Sometimes you put it in such a thought-out, unusual place, that you just can't think of later on.

Maybe I needed to access some unusual thought process I had. How would I do that? Might as well try an unusual approach, I thought. Hey, I was desperate. So, for the first time in my life, I went to a meditation class.

And probably for the last time, as well. God, that was weird. Kotie's so right to sneak out of the family meditation her mom does. I couldn't even stick to it for five minutes. They keep telling you to clear your mind. How was I supposed to do that? And how was I supposed to realize my path if I cleared my mind? And why focus on my breathing? I've been doing that from the day I was born! That was as big a waste of time as.. my dad practicing being creepy would be.

No. Not there.

Sometimes the people around you have the answer. They may have seen what you're looking for lying around somewhere.

I already knew the answers of those closest to me. My mom, my dad, and Uncle Raj have been in this kind of an under-the-surface-triple-tug-of-war since I was a high school senior, each of them certain that their field was the one for me.

My mom just assumed I would go into Microbiology, sooner or later, and make a buttload in pharma, as she does. That's what I used to think. But, like I told you, I kept having that problem of, well, not wanting it.

My dad and Uncle Raj wouldn't go against my mom directly, but their intentions were pretty clear. And by that I mean as obvious as a Disney movie's ending.

Dad had never worked so hard on decorating the house, or, at anything in the house really, as he did when he decided to start an 'Engineer week' family tradition. Which lasted three days, because he got tired of hanging the posters.

Uncle Raj would set up a telescope in our back yard every full moon, and would call me to join him. I would, sometimes, but mostly it was Dad who joined him. They'd stay up late, but Mom wasn't bothered. She said they needed their 'Date Night', they hadn't gone out much since us kids were born.

Then there were the people who were not the closest, but still around me a lot. The gang. I thought today would be a good time to talk to them, since we would all be together. Tonight was a special night at The Hofstadter Fund. It's a place the Hofstadters run where everyone can come to hear science lectures. Tonight they were having the first lecture in their new, big hall. Their rooms were becoming too small for the crowds coming to their more popular lectures, so they bought a place that was right next to their building and made it into a hall. They invited this very successful Chemistry lecturer to be the first to talk there, it was quite a big deal.

When we go to the fund we usually come earlier, to help organize, and leave later, to help clean up. I thought I'd ask the parents for advice then. I figured I wasn't strong to them anymore, I was pitied, so I might as well ask for help.

But as it turned out, the Hofstadters were in much more urgent need of help. I wasn't paying much attention, being so stressed about my major, but from what I got there was heavy rain where the lecturer comes from, and the roads were now flooded. She had no way of making it on time. It was an unexpected turn and they got the notice way too close to the time the lecture should have started, it was too late to cancel.

So preparation time was more of a desperation time. Aunt Penny was running in circles, helpless. Aunt Anaya was running after her, trying to get her to meditate or say a mantra or something like that. Uncle Leonard was making desperate phone calls, trying to find a replacement. Uncle Raj kept suggesting he'd do an 'Astronomy Spectacle' instead. Max decided he'd find a solution somehow and was drafting and scratching plans repeatedly, with Lizzie by his side, staring at him with googly eyes. Aunt Amy was trying her best to keep Uncle Sheldon away from Aunt Penny, knowing well she might end up a widow if he said the wrong thing. Which was almost guaranteed. The rest were more quiet, talking to each other or checking things on their phones.

"Well," Leonard sighed, "this is it. All of Caltech's chemists are either unavailable or not familiar enough with the subject."

Penny groaned "Great. Great, great, great."

Unfortunately, Aunt Amy had just gone to the bathroom, which meant Uncle Sheldon was free to speak his mind.

"This is what happens when people don't keep a big enough time-buffer," he said.

"A what now?" Aunt Penny asked in a tired tone.

"Time-buffer. Penny, you've been to dozens of my trip orientations, how come you do not know a basic term such as 'Time-buffer'? It is in the glossary of every travel guide I've made," Sheldon berated.

Uncle Leonard, picking up on his wife's fast-rising anger, came to her side and rubbed her back. She turned to him, trying to forget about Sheldon.

But of course, Uncle Sheldon started explaining. "A time-buffer is an amount of spare time one has to take when making a trip. One should start one's travel at a time which, under normal circumstances, would make one arrive earlier than is required. The time-buffer should allow one to arrive on time, even if unexpected events, such as flooded roads, prolong one's travel. Now, a time-buffer should be calculated-"

He was about to explain his formula, but Aunt Penny then shot him a death-glare, one that even Uncle Sheldon could recognize. "Sheldon, how 'bout you calculate the time buffer for me to go all Nebraska on you?"

"The time-buffer does not apply to -" he started, but Aunt Penny took a step forward, "Oh," he said, and took a step back, and then stepped behind my dad.

Penny sighed. "Can any of you guys do the lecture?"

All the parents shook their heads no, including Aunt Amy who'd just come back.

Then Uncle Sheldon raised his hand, "I can give a lecture on trip pla-"

"Sheldon, I swear to God!" Aunt Penny responded.

Eventually, there seemed to be no choice. They decided they'd talk about the fund and their new simulators instead, and then show a video of a chemistry lecture they had. Aunt Penny started announcing it, but then she apparently made a mistake in the title of the lecture that was canceled. I don't remember what it was, again, I was in my head, but apparently Sophie, who was next to her, corrected her. I assume that, because then Penny asked Sophie if she said something, bending a bit toward her, with the mic. Sophie repeated, and the mic picked up, that the title was something else. She then explained to Penny why what she said didn't make sense, I think she was wrong about the particles involved. The mic wasn't that close to Sophie, so a person in the back asked if she could repeat it to the mic, with other people joining the request. I thought there was no way she'd do that, I mean, the girl chokes when waiters ask for her order, but she did!

But then we were in for an even bigger surprise, you wouldn't imagine. This woman asked a question, and Sophie just started answering, just like that, like she does when someone from the gang asks her about something she's studying or a project she's doing. She said she'd have to explain some basics to answer, and asked if she could check the lecturer's presentation. Leonard opened it and she found illustrations that helped, in one of the first slides. Eventually, Sophie, that frightened little 14-looking-like-10-year-old chipmunk, wound up giving the lecture herself! And wonderfully so! I swear I'm not kidding!

It was like watching one of those unbelievable nature phenomena. Us, the gang, were all watching in total shock. I think Penny almost left Leonard's arm paralyzed for life from squeezing it so hard the entire time, but he was so amazed that he didn't even seem to notice.

At the end, everybody gave Sophie a standing ovation and cheered so hard. That's when she suddenly realized what she had just done. She got her deer-in-headlights look and ran off the stage, with Penny running after her. Well, one step at a time…

So I witnessed a miracle of some sort, which was awesome, but after the people left I couldn't help but get back to thinking about my major major problem. The gang was all cleaning up, but I was starting to get kinda depressed and didn't feel like talking to anyone. I just went outside while everybody was too busy to notice, and sat on a bench. I didn't really do anything, I just sat there, basically feeling sorry for myself.

"Hey, you okay there?" I suddenly heard. I raised my head to see Riley throwing out a bag of trash.

"No, not really," I shrugged. I knew if I lied she'd see right through it. "But you wouldn't understand," I smiled ruefully, "The big genius, on the fast track to her dreams she had from childhood, finishing your MA when? Next year?"

She didn't answer, she just had that funny guilty face of hers, so obvious, just like her dad's.

I snickered, "It's this year, isn't it?"

She smiled awkwardly.

"And you're gonna start your PhD next year, aren't you?"

Again, no answer in speech, but a clear one on her face.

"It's just one course," she finally said, noticing I figured it out.

I chuckled.

She then sat down next to me, and said, "But, don't you have amazing grades yourself? Michael wouldn't make that up."

"You guys talk about my grades?"

She shrugged, "I don't know, we talk about everything."

'Except what really matters,' I thought, looking at her for a moment. I then looked ahead and said, "It's not that, it's not the grades."

She looked at me, with those curious, enormous eyes of hers.

I sighed, "Fine…" I said, I was in such a low, so what the hell. I started telling her it all, how I had to pick a major in a week and had no idea what to do, how nothing helped.

When I finished she just looked at me, silent, clearly having something to say.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing," she said.

"Come on, I've known you since you were born, you have something to say. Just say it."

"It's just… I've had some thoughts about your future. I mean, not in a creepy way, just these thoughts coming up because something brought them on… But, if I tell you, you'd probably not do it, because I said it."

"You're probably right," I admitted, with a half-smile, she had a point. I thought for a moment. "You know what, just tell me anyway."

She seemed a little hesitant. "Okay… I kind of always thought you'd do something where you kind of have to fight for your stuff, I mean, not physically," she said, "not that you can't," she quickly added, "just, something where you have to make arguments, persuade people, make strategies to get what you want, well, what you need, if it's your job, you'd need it, or maybe not exactly need it, like to exist, at least not directly-"

"Riley," I said, to stop her from going off-track, thinking over little things, as she always does.

"Right, right. I mean something like a lawyer, or some sort of representative, or negotiator. You know, my mom once watched a video when they said something about an actor going to an entertainment lawyer, and I just thought, 'Hey, that's something Halley would be awesome at, 'cause she's fierce, and strong, and smart, and also knows all this celebrity stuff', you know, who's the most famous, who's 'in', and that list thing…"

I snickered, "You mean like A-list, B-list?"

"Yeah, that!" she said.

"You're such a dork," I said, chuckling.

Riley chuckled, too, and then said, "This whole thing, the celebrity thing, it's kinda like a game, and you would know how to play it to win. And you like winning, and Hollywood stuff," she shrugged.

I took a minute to think it over, what she said. I realized it actually made a lot of sense. And sounded… amazing. I never thought of this. I thought I'd go to a STEM field, like my parents and almost everybody around me. I liked the law courses I took, especially when they talked about cases. But I took those courses for fun, because I needed the credit and they seemed interesting. Studying law had never occurred to me.

"Well, I guess now you won't do it," Riley said, snickering, "Just another one of this idiot's nerdy blabs," she said, getting up and about to go back inside.

"Riley wait," I called, making her turn around. "That's, that's actually a good idea, no, it's.. it's brilliant," I said, smiling, "Thank you."

She smiled back.

I turned my head, looking ahead, "You're not _that_ bad, you know?"

I looked back at her, and saw her grinning.

"But you're still an idiot," I said. We both started chuckling, which quickly turned into laughing.

Sometimes what you're looking for is where you least expect it to be.


	29. Decisions

_**A/N: Hello? (Echo: lo lo lo...) Is anybody here? (here here here...)**_

 _ **So... um... I wrote a chapter. Of this story some of you read, long ago... Remember? The one in the future, with the transport-lines and Raj getting stuck with a Sandra Bullock mask on?**_

 _ **I'm turning to humor 'cause I don't really know what to say... It's been so so long since I'd last posted a chapter. It's not that I didn't want to. I like this story, I love these characters, those from the show and those I invented, and I have a full outline, up to chapter 50 (at least). But between working, dating, breaking-up, family members going through major challenges... I didn't have much time to write, and when I did I didn't feel like putting the effort that writing this story requires. Because it is fun, but it certainly does require effort.**_

 _ **Now, I don't want to leave the story with no conclusion. I think readers desevre closure, even if there's very few of them left. I'm considering just publishing the outline I wrote, so you'd have an idea of where I intended to take the story. The problem is, that would be giving up on actually writing all those plots, and that's hard for me. COVID-19 and the restrictions following it have now created a different life situation for me, and probably many of you, so for the time being, I think I'll try writing another chapter, and we'll see after that.**_

 _ **Thank you very much to all those who read this story, reviewed chapters, followed, favorited, even if they don't read anymore. Thank you very much to anyone who would be reading, and maybe reviewing, this. Very very special thanky to my amazing beta, joyteach, who, after all this time, still stuck with me and went through this one as well.**_

 _ **This chapter brings tou Max's POV, for the first time. Hope you enjoy it.**_

 _ **Oh, and, The Big Bang Theory ended, but sadly, it's still not mine. Boy, would I like that money now in COVID-19 days (though I wouldn't mind it later, as well!). Anyway, Lorre and Prady, who do own The Big Bang Theory, made, and are probably still making it. Cheers to them. I only own my OCs, and to some extent these versions of Halley and Michael.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 29: Decisions**

 _June, 2038._

 _[Max.]_

I'm okay at making decisions. Probably not the best, but definitely better than my sister. Sophie takes forever making decisions, and they're like torture to her. One time, Mom and Dad wanted her to practice making decisions on her own, so they let her pick a movie for us to watch. It took two hours, three charts and a graph, 'til Mom gave up and chose for her.

No, I'm definitely, definitely not that bad at decisions. But this time, I had a real big one to make. I'd finished my finals in school, and now I had to decide if I wanted to stay, or graduate and go to university.

Oh right, I probably should explain that. I'm 12, but I finished my finals early. I always studied more advanced stuff at school because I'm a genius. I mean really, tests and all. Both my sisters did the same thing. Although I beat them by a year, they finished their finals at 13. I guess I should thank Lizzie, my friend, she's a bigger genius than I am, and I was just trying to keep up with her. Umm what was I saying? Oh yeah, my sisters. They finished their finals at 13, but left school later. Riley, my oldest sister, left at 16, and Sophie at 15. Lizzie's brother also left when he was 16, the same time Sophie left.

My parents think it's better to stay longer so you could be with kids your age. They can make me stay or leave if they want to, because I'm a minor, but they do want to know my opinion, and I wanted to think it through.

I asked my dad for help, and we started making a list of pros and cons to graduating. Mom was there too, but she was practically glued to the window by the front door, waiting for Riley to come back from her date. She's been dating this guy, Dylan, for a few weeks now. They met at a 'Tales of Nova' convention about a month ago.

"Penny," Dad tried once again, "you're gonna end up with a bad back. Just come here and help us out, it will help pass the time. You're not going to make them come back any sooner like this, and they might see you when they do."

"Good," Mom said, not moving even a bit, "this way he would know he is being meticulously supervised."

"Supervised?" Dad asked, "Come on, Penny, I know this is new to you, it is new to me too, but they're 19. And since when do you say 'meticulously'?"

"Since that scumbag is dating my little baby, forcing me to keep a _meticulous_ eye on him."

"Scumbag? Penny you haven't even met the guy…"

"All guys are scumbags."

"Hey!" Dad and I both protested.

Mom didn't respond, remaining fixated on the window, so we went back to our list, starting to add to the cons side.

"Being away from my friends, that's the biggest one," I said.

"You already have 'Staying with friends' as a pro," Dad said.

"Yeah, but that's important enough to be in both. I want to stay with my friends and I don't wanna be away from them," I explained, "I have quite a lot of friends at school, we go to parties and go hoverboarding. If I'm not around I'm probably gonna miss a lot of that."

"Ooh Ooh!" Mom suddenly joined in, finally leaving the window and coming to sit with us, "Add that to the pro list! The hoverboarding thing!"

"Mom, I said I won't be hoverboarding if I graduate," I cleared up.

"Exactly," she grinned.

"Hey, don't write that!" I told Dad, who started writing 'No hoverboarding' on the pros, but he kept going.

"She's got a point," he shrugged, "The last time you went hoverboarding got you the name 'Grass-head'."

"It's not my fault they planted so much grass where I fell!"

"You mean, the park?" Mom asked, with her arms crossed.

"And what about the time you came home all soaked up, in the middle of the summer?" Dad said.

"No, that one was a mini-golf thing," Mom corrected. "Ooh, add 'No mini-golf'! And also 'No bowling'," she turned to me, "One day Mr. Burns won't manage to catch you when you go down that lane, and you'll end up coming out of the ball machine. Although that might be safer than you hoverboarding."

I scoffed, crossing my arms. Alright, so I'm not that great at a lot of the stuff my friends do. Just the more physical stuff. Okay, I did break my thumb once when we were playing video games but that was an unfortunate chain accident. Mostly, it's the things that require balance, and coordination, and… any kind of movement. But I want others to like me, and to be a part. So what if I sneeze sand for a week?

"Hey, I've got something more for the pros," I said, wanting to change the subject, "I could make friends in the university, and they'll be older, that could be cool, we could have college kids' fun."

"Not too fond of that…" Mom said, warily.

"Relax, it'd be my kind of 'college kids' fun', not yours," Dad said, with a chuckle.

Mom sighed, "Still, I don't want him staying up all night playing video games, that's how you end up with Cheetos in your hair."

"Mom, I'm old enough to keep Cheetos out of my hair," I argued.

But she turned to me, cupped my face, pouted her lips, and said, in her baby-tone, "Sure you are, my biiig little Chubby-Wubby," and kissed my nose. Uggh, I'm not even complaining about the 'Chubby' anymore (they keep calling me that 'cause I was a chubby baby but now I'm not!), but why does she always kiss my nose?!

Suddenly we heard the door open, and Riley came in.

"Damn it," Mom whispered. She jumped up from her place and went to hug Riley, putting on a very big, very fake smile, "Hey baby, how are you? How was the movie?" she asked, and kissed Riley's head.

"Hi Mommy," Riley said, letting herself be hugged, seeming kinda down. When Mom released her, she went to sit down next to Dad, hugging him from the side for a bit, and then leaning on him. Mom came back, to sit by Riley's other side. "The movie was nice, a little predictable," Riley said, "The guy who turned out to be the robber had that obvious wicked smile from the beginning, and was disappearing all the time. Also, I hope real-life police officers aren't that slow, and don't need 11-year-olds to do their jobs."

Mom nodded, but she was clearly just waiting for Riley to finish, to ask, starting in a fake friendly tone, but quickly getting faster and more nervous, "And how was, umm, Dylan? Did he, maybe, try anything? Touch anything? Lean? Did he look at your neck? You should not trust guys who look at your neck too much, you'll end up with-" she suddenly stopped, "Never mind. So, uh… How was he?" she asked again, 'sweetly'.

"Uhm… I don't know," Riley said, "He did touch me I guess, when we were walking to the place. He just kept kinda.. moving me around along the way, I felt kinda like a pinball machine's ball."

"Oh well, that's okay, things don't always work out, you're only 19, you have a lot more to experience, there's plenty of fish in the sea," Mom hurried to say.

"H- Hold on," Dad said, "No need to jump to conclusions, maybe he was just nervous, and didn't know how to get to make physical contact. You know, one time when we were young, Howard thought he had the perfect strategy to initiating physical contact. He thought walking with a girl in a parking lot and steering her away from cars was the perfect opportunity to.. um.. get closer, but he didn't get dates so he would wait in parking lots and… uh…"

"Thanks for making my point, Honey," Mom retorted, smiling.

Dad narrowed his eyes, "Alright, bad example. Let's just say this is something you could put in the 'cons' list, and see if it changes."

"Yeah…" Riley said, sheepishly, "that might change. But… I'm not sure his yelling at theatre workers would…"

"Maybe they did something wrong…?" Dad tried.

"Like not making a new batch of popcorn when he ordered a serving…?" Riley said.

"Maybe he had a bad day?" I suggested, trying to get into the 'game'.

"Maybe, but he also yelled at them for telling him to shut down his phone… And for letting people move to the seats in front of us… That time he also gave the guy a threatening look, grabbed his arm and did this 'watch out' gesture…"

There was a moment of silence.

"Well, umm… you're young, and, there's fish…" Dad said.

A couple of hours later, the Cooper-Fowlers came for dinner. We eat dinner together a lot, 'cause they're our neighbors. Our parents have been friends even since before we were born, long before. Uncle Sheldon was Dad's roommate for years.

I forgot to say, that's Lizzie's family. That makes it hard sometimes. I don't know, things are fine, kind of, when we're all talking together. But when I talk with Lizzie, not to mention when it's just the two of us, it's…umm… not going as easily as… anything.

Like that night, yesterday. We were just starting to eat, and Lizzie asked for the apple juice, which was next to me.

"This one?" I asked, reaching for it hurriedly.

"Yes! Thank you, Maxi," she said, and smiled, looking straight into my eyes from her seat across from me, with her shiny emerald eyes.

Then I started talking so fast, like I'd lost control of my talking speed, "Or or I can bring you the one from the fridge, it would be colder and colder is better, right? I mean sometimes, but this is summer and who doesn't like a cold drink in the summer, it helps cooling off, although the A/C's on so maybe you don't need to cool off, so I could give you this juice, or maybe I could warm it up a little, if the A/C's too much and…"

Thank goodness Mom finally took the carton out of my hand and handed it to Lizzie. I don't know how long that would've gone on.

"Thanks," Lizzie said.

"Sorry," I said, embarrassed.

"For what?" Lizzie asked, "You made good points. You always do."

I smiled, staring at her, until my mom elbowed me. "Uhh thanks," I said, realizing I'd got stuck.

Then for the rest of dinner, I was trying to find something to say to her, to make up for my screw-up, but I couldn't. I was about to start talking several times, but every time I did, words wouldn't come up.

I wish I could say it was just that night, but that's how it always is. Either I talk too much, or I freeze, or I just don't know what to say to her. She's already smarter than I am, but when I talk to her I feel like I get 10 times dumber than I usually am.

It wasn't always like this. I don't remember it that well, but my parents say we used to get along greatly when we were little. I don't know when it changed, maybe around first or second grade.

That's another thing, I've known her for that long. My entire life. And still, I don't know how to talk to her.

And we spend a lot of time together. Not as much as when we were little, I guess. We go to the same school but we don't talk that much there. We're not in the same.. uh.. friend groups. I kind of get along with most of the kids in class. I may not be the best at some of the things they do, but I'm still a part. I like it, I want others to like me, that's why I do all those things they do, even if I.. kinda suck at them. But Lizzie, she's.. she's got her own thing. She reads her books and comic-books and writes equations most of the time. She's either alone at school or with her friend, Martha, this girl who collects spiders. The other kids, they just don't understand Lizzie that much. They don't know how amazing the things she does are, so they just… they kinda think she's weird and they stay away from her, or don't really notice her.

Anyway, after that dinner debacle, I was glad my sisters and Lizzie's brother, Stephen, came with us to the garage to play. Oh, in case you don't have one, a garage is a place they used to keep cars in, back when people had cars. Actual private cars they used regularly, not like the cars used for games. When my parents sold the car they had, I think it was before I was even born, they'd decided to make the garage sort of a game room.

So we were in there, playing the new Storm Troops game, which was a nice distraction. But I couldn't help looking at Lizzie, who was sitting next to me on that old brownish-orange-ish couch, and wonder what her plans were. Was she staying at school? Was she leaving? Things would be different if she was leaving. Sure we don't talk to each other much at school, but.. I'd notice.

"Hey, Lizzie?" I whispered to her, sneaking a quick look at her while playing.

But the game was too loud for her to hear.

"Lizzie," I tried again, a little louder, but Stephen just started shouting at her, something about her velocity-to-accuracy balance.

I waited a minute for things to calm down, and started again. "Lizzie," I whisper-shouted, "Lizzie," I raised my voice a bit more, "Lizzie!"

That one came out way louder than I intended. Suddenly the game was on pause and everyone was looking at me.

"Yes, Maxi?" Lizzie asked, after a moment, making me realize I was supposed to talk.

"What? Oh Uh… Umm… you… you know school, and finals, and… right?"

"Uh-huh," she said, looking me right in the eyes.

"I- I was just thinking- no wondering, I was just wondering, what do you… Uh… Not that it's my business I just want to know, 'cause, I'm just curious, and Uh…"

She was looking at me patiently, waiting for me to ask what I wanted, but I just couldn't bring myself to make up a normal sentence.

"Hey you know what, I think we need more grape juice, yeah we need more grape juice I'm gonna get us more grape juice," I said quickly, got up and started walking to the house.

"But Maxi, we have an almost full bottle," Riley said.

"Y- yeah but what if we finish it? We have to be prepared, you don't want to go get another bottle later in the game, that would ruin the- the atmosphere, and…" I said, continuing to walk, 'til I was out of there.

'What a loser,' I thought to myself, as I was entering the kitchen. 'You couldn't even ask her a simple question, get a hold of yourself Hofstadter!'

"Come on, Bestie, they're _meant to be,_ " I heard Aunt Amy say to my mom, who was sitting next to her by the kitchen island, facing the backyard. "It's a love story written in the stars, from before they were born!"

I know this sounds dramatic, but this kind of saying coming from Aunt Amy didn't surprise me. She's a very rational, logical scientist, but when she's excited about something romantic she can sometimes speak like Uncle Raj (who my parents say is like a human Rom-Con Wiki).

"Sweetie I get that you want this to happen, and I see how they are, but we should not get involved," Mom responded.

"Sure we do! They just need a little nudge, or a push, a shove, maybe. To get them in the right direction. You fixed Howard up with Bernadette, you helped Sheldon and I move forward, and we both know that required a lot of work, you're like a relationship master," Amy said.

"I guess you could say that…" Mom said, sounding pleased.

"So get up and work your magic! Come on!" Amy said, "We could make a plan, we could… We could lock them in a room and play a romantic movie marathon, until they professed their love, remember escape rooms? It would be like that, just romantic! We could plant clues in the movies! And use heart-shaped locks!" Amy said, excitedly.

"And what if they don't 'profess their love'?" Mom asked.

"They'd just stay there until they did."

"I don't think that's such a-" Mom started saying, sheepishly.

"Or! Or, we could leave them alone for, say, three days, or weeks, and they'd have to fend for themselves, just the two of them. Overcoming adversity can really bring people together!" Amy said, still excited.

"Three weeks?!"

"Or we could leave them in a dark alley, the sparks would fly right out!"

"Amy they're 12!"

"Do they play video games?" I asked, wanting to help.

Mom and Aunt Amy both jumped at that, and turned to me. They were so busy talking, they didn't even notice I'd gotten to the kitchen and taken a juice bottle out of the fridge.

"Chubby! What are you doing there? I mean, we didn't see you, I mean, how long have you been there?" Mom asked. It was weird, but I thought maybe she was just very surprised.

"Just a minute or two. If the kids you talked about play video games than maybe you could have them play one together, that could count as 'adversity'," I shrugged.

"Yeah, yeah that's a good idea, thank you, Honey," Mom said, smiling a bit weirdly, "but you better get back to your game now, 'cause-"

"Who are they?" I asked.

"Who are who?" Mom asked.

"The kids. That are meant to be. If you tell me about them, maybe I could help, you said they were my age."

"Uh…"

Yes, Mom was indeed being weird.

"They're Matt Hof..senstein and E..liza Flower..Coocker. Yes. Matt Hofsenstein and Eliza Flower-Coocker," Aunt Amy said, nodding at the end of her sentence.

Mom narrowed her eyes at her, but said, "Yeah.. Matt and Eliza."

"They're two kids from a small town in southern Canada," Amy said.

"Yeah, Canada. Maxi you should really go-" Mom started.

"A simple, rural area, where the people are nice and friendly by day, but mysterious murders happen at night," Amy added.

Canada's far, but it was getting scary.

"Of sheep!" Mom added. "Mysterious murders of sheep. There's a very rough rivalry… among the sheep herders… Of southern Canada," she said, looking at Aunt Amy kinda angrily. Maybe she was mad Aunt Amy made it sound scarier than it was. Well, it still was, especially if you're in the sheep-business.

"Matty and Eliza are relying on each other in these tough times," Amy said, "especially after they both lost their parents to a mysterious disease-"

"Small-Southern-Canadian-town-disease," Mom chimed in.

"And are now each forced to live with indifferent relatives who only care for the money they inherited."

"Uh…" I said, processing all of that, "Maybe they should first contact Child Protective Services, and the police, about the murders, and then get to the romantic part?"

"Yes, yes that's a great idea, Sweetie," Mom said, "we'll.. tell them. Thank you. Now go play, the others need you to kill some space robots!"

"They're ro- never mind," I said, and went back to the garage.

We kept playing until our parents called us. I wanted to talk to Lizzie but it was just too loud and I'd already made a fool of myself.

So today I've decided I'll have to find an opportunity, some time for us to talk alone, but maybe for not too long because I might find myself talking about oranges for ten minutes straight. That happened one time. I'm not sure how. I didn't even know I knew so much about oranges.

I'd just finished my lunch and came to empty my tray, when I saw her coming to empty hers. I knew this was my chance.

"So… Did you have a. good lunch?" I started.

Lizzie put her tray away and looked at me, probably thinking I was being such a weirdo again.

Mm… In terms of flavor, yes, it was good, however, nutrition-wise, it was a tad below standard. My mom seemed distracted when she made it this morning, and I believe she was not mindful of the vegetable-to-carbohydrate ratio. "

"Oh. That must have been… uh… disappointing."

"Why yes it was!" she said, more animated. "Oh Maxi, you're so sensitive and empathic."

"Uh… I guess." I scratched my head.

"No one else would've understood my lunch dissatisfaction as well as you did."

"I don't know about that…"

Then it happened again. That awkward silence that happens all the time when I'm alone with Lizzie. She was just looking at me and I was just standing there awkwardly, not knowing what to do with myself.

Then I remembered, "Oh, uh, there was something I wanted to talk to you about."

"What is it?" she said, looking at me curiously.

"I-" I started, but was cut off.

"Yo Hofstadter!" I heard someone shout. It was one of my friends, Roger, who had just come by. "Hover-board race outside, in 5 minutes, you in?"

"Sure, sure I'm in, I'm always in," I said.

"That's my bro," he said, and patted my back. It was pretty strong, but I managed to keep on my feet. "See you there," he said, and walked away.

"That's so cool. You'll do amazing," Lizzie said.

"Uh yeah, sure," I said. Actually, I knew I'd probably crash. But I thought maybe this time I'd manage to make at least half the way. That would be a win. Like I said, I'm not good at this stuff, but I want the other kids to like me, and I want to be in on what's happening, so I always join in.

Seeing the other guys walking outside, I realized I should probably go as well. But, I felt bad ditching Lizzie like that. "Hey, do you wanna come?" I asked.

Lizzie's excitement seemed to wear off immediately, and she seemed somewhat down. "I don't think that's a good idea, they asked you to come, not me."

"But I invited you."

"Yeah, you did, but.. I'd have to refuse the invite, I have some reading to do. I'm sorry," she said, and walked away.

"That's okay…" I said, weakly.

So I missed that chance to talk to Lizzie about her thoughts on graduating, but I did get another one this evening. I'd say luckily, but I don't think that fits, considering I had my left arm in a cast.

Yeah, that wasn't nice. But at least I knew Mom would pamper the hell out of me. Last time, when I scratched my knees, I got her to buy me the Loco-Coco-Jumbo-Mumbo-Jibber-Jabber milkshake at the shopping center. I threw up four times after that, but it was worth it.

I was actually about to ask my mom for pizza, when Halley and Michael came to visit. They're also friends of ours whose parents are friends with our parents. Well, Michael is more like Riley's friend, he's her best friend, and a year older than her. Halley's 21 and not best friends with any of us, but she's part of the group, with our family, and Lizzie's, and the Koothrappalis.

"Hey bud, how are you doing?" Michael asked when they came to sit by me on the couch.

"I'm fine, it's nothing," I said, trying to play it cool.

"Yeah, Michael, can't you see? It's just a little scratch, barely even noticeable," Halley said, sarcastically, and they both chuckled.

"What happened, exactly? Did you lose balance when you started speeding up? That happens a lot with hover-boards," Michael said.

"I wasn't exactly speeding…" I said.

"Oh, so did you take a turn too sharply?"

"I wasn't exactly turning…"

"So… were you just not stable enough on the board?"

"I wasn't exactly on the board…"

They both furrowed their brows, waiting for an explanation.

"I..um… I put my foot on, and then when I tried putting the other one, I.. kinda threw it too far."

"Oh," they said.

"Then I kinda started spinning around and then I fell back."

"Ohh…"

"On a friend. Who helped me up."

"Huh."

"And then I bumped into a girl, and fell on my arm."

There was a moment of silence. Then Michael got a text from his girlfriend, Jenna. Halley looked at him texting for a moment, shaking her head, and then was about to say something to me, when suddenly the door opened wide.

"I came here as soon as I heard!" Lizzie said, panting. She was dressed as Anna from the 'Frozen' movies, but her wig was all off, probably from running. It turned out she was cosplaying in the park when she heard of my accident. She cosplays Disney characters every once in a while, but her dad and her brother hate it, so she hides it from them. I love it- err, I mean, I like it, when she does that, because she loves it, which makes her excited and I lo- like, how she gets when she's excited. And she's excited about so many things. That's what makes her so wonderful to be around.

A little after Lizzie got there, Michael and Halley said they'd leave us alone, and went upstairs.

That's it, that was my other chance. I knew I had to take it. "Hey, Lizzie?"

"Yeah?"

"You know that thing I wanted to talk to you about…"

"Oh yeah, what was it?"

"Well, you know how we both finished our finals…"

"Yes."

"And we can graduate now, if we wanted."

"Yes."

"And I was just thinking… I mean, I've made a chart and all for my considerations, but I was just thinking… Wondering, I was just wondering what were you thinking.. about graduating, I mean what are- what are you gonna do?"

"I was wondering that as well. About you. What were your conclusions making the chart?"

"Umm I wouldn't say I'm finished with the charts, because, umm, there is some.. relevant data I need to collect first. What were your conclusions?"

"Well, there's no final conclusion for me either. But, there's a.. leaning."

"Oh. And that is…?"

"To stay. In school. But it may change," she said.

I smiled, "I'm leaning that way too."

Lizzie smiled.

"But it may change as well," I added, "Like, if you change your leaning… Then, I may change my leaning, too…"

"Really?" she asked, smiling.

I nodded.

"So I think I'm staying," she said.

"Me too," I said. "Wait," I remembered, "would your dad let you stay?"

"Don't worry, if he says I should graduate, I'll just threaten him saying I'm going to take literature as a major."

It was settled. "We'll be staying at school," I told everyone at dinner. It was my family, together with Lizzie, Michael and Halley who were invited to join.

Lizzie nodded and smiled.

The others also smiled, but those kind of knowing smiles, maybe even stifling chuckles.

"You seem pretty confident about that decision, Chubby," Mom said, "You weren't that sure yesterday. Did something happen to help you make the decision? Was it maybe.. depending on something, or.. someone?"

I frowned, "What? No, we just, decided."

"So the both of you made this big life decision, together," Sophie said, looking at me weirdly, as if she was expecting me to get some code.

Then Michael chuckled.

"Why are you all being weird?" I asked.

"Uh sorry," Michael said, "I was just thinking about something someone told me, about two people who have strong feelings for each other, and it's so obvious to everyone else, but they don't do anything about it."

"Ohh are you talking about Matt Hofsenstein and Eliza Flower-Cooker?" I asked.

"Yes, yes he is!" Mom answered.

"Um yeah, I am," Michael said.

"It must be so frustrating for those who watch those two obviously in love and wait for it to happen," Riley said, looking at me, "and anytime it seems like something's about to happen, it doesn't."

Halley then looked at her and said, curtly, "Yes. Like, screaming-at-them-in-your-mind frustrating." Then she smiled, "I imagine."


End file.
